Curse Marked Love
by akatsuki-shadow-sakura
Summary: This massacre is just another reason 4 me to inialate them and get rid of this curse" Sasuke will follow his hearts desire to erase the curse 4ever but will he ever realise his true desire has been w/ him all along? SasuxSaku *Chs rewritten and much bettr
1. Chapter 1

_**Info you need to know:**_

_**1. Sasuke has returned from spending 4 years with Orochimaru**_. **_Why? Keep reading and youll see . _**

**_2._** _**In this story Itachi isn't "evil" since I need him for a future chappie and I never really saw that he was evil.**_

_**3. In this story the leaf ninja go to high school but they're still ninja.**_

Disclaimer- I do not own naruto. -chibi tears-

_**Chapter 1**_

_**Welcome Back teme..**_

I opened my eyes as I heard a loud beeping noise that had been irritating me for the past two minutes, indicating that the cursed day was here.

I sat up on my futon and glared slightly at the clock that reminded me that it was almost time to reunite with the people I had once left behind, though I had never _really_ left them behind for I always had them on my mind and constantly thought of them.

After a few moments, I got up and headed to the shower, shutting the door behind me. I washed myself and brushed my teeth in preparation for the "_punishment_" the hokage had given me.

After I had gotten dressed I walked out of my room and toward the kitchen, inclining my head once when I passed Fugaku.

"...I'm sure that it will be fine mother. I don't beleive that the other ninja will want to kill Sasuke when they see him later today." I heard Itachi's voice as I entered the kitchen and grabbed a peice of toast.

"Ohayo Sasuke" greeted Mikoto as she dried the dishes and smiled at me. Looking at her I couldn't help but curl my lips up slightly.

"Ohayo" I said plainly as I grabbed some tea and sat across Itachi. "Dakara otouto, how will you-"

"Sasuke-teme!! Come on lets go!! We'll be late if you don't get over here quick!" came Naruto running inside the house and yelling. He stopped as he saw Fugaku enter the room and grinned sheepishly. Mikoto giggled slightly and waved at him as she continued with the dishes.

"C'mon teme, we have to make it to school on time our else granna Tsunade will have our heads." I ignored Naruto's complaints and drank my tea as Itachi glared at me slightly as if telling me to leave with the loud mouthed blonde.

"Uugggh!! Let's go!!" groaned Naruto as he grabbed my kunai holster and scrolls from the table in front of him.

" Everyone knows you're back and they're ready to see you again and Sakura chan is-" I slammed down my cup before Naruto could finish.

**_Flashback_**

_I looked to the door as Naruto entered and shut it closely behind him. I got up from the bed and swung my legs over it. 'why am I even here. I came here of my own free will without any injuries and she puts me in the hospital.' _

_"Hey teme.. glad to see you back." said Naruto trying to break the ice as he made way towards the bed. I inclined my head once in acknowledgement as he grinned. _

_"granny Tsunade told me about your 'punishment'. Doesn't sound too bad since all of Konoha's genin and chunin go to Fire High. " he said trying to encourage me._

_I scoffed lightly and smirked at him. "I'm sure you're still the same loser you were before though." Naruto grinned and held his hand out to me as I grabbed it and shook his hand lightly. _

_"Heh_, _I've gotten much better than you think_ **_teme_**_, I'm higher in rank and I'm sure I can beat your ass anyday as soon as you get out of here! " I smirked slightly at him as he continued._

_"Everyone's dying to see you and Sakura chan's really been- " I looked up at him and gave him a cold stare. He stopped mid sentence and gave me a questioning look. _

_"I don't want to see her Naruto. I don't want to talk to her..not yet" I whispered out the last part as he nodded. "Don't talk about her or name her until I see her." _

**_End Flashback_**

I had told him that day not to talk about her but it seems he had forgetten. He rubbed the back of his head and grinned slightly.

"Gomen Sasuke, I forgot." I grunted as I got up and grabbed my things from Naruto. Without a word he followed me out and towards the village center.

--xoxo--

-xoxo-

--xoxo--

"Alright so I guess I'll see you after class then." Sakura nodded as she closed her locker and turned to Sai.

" Just bring what you think you'll need and we'll get started at five o'clock. Is that ok?" "Fine with me." replied the arist ninja smiling as Sakura gave a slight frown. "Wipe it off. I can tell it's fake." Sai sighed slightly as he returned to his usual emotionless expression.

"I 'm sorry, still working on it." he said as he pionted at one of the books in his hand. Sakura nodded as she smiled at him.

"Look! There's Sa..nobody..hehe no one." Naruto said as we enetred the west wing and noticed Sakura and the unfamiliar ninja there. I tried to avoid eye contact with them but before I could avert my gaze Sakura caught it.

She looked at me momentarily and then looked down to her feet as she gave a short nod as a response to something my '_replacement_' had said. I continued to watch as she avoided me and tried hard not to look at me and apparently Naruto saw me and he sighed.

"She's just been worried about you teme..and you avoiding her isn't easy for her after we spent so much time searching for you." I inclined my head to Naruto's words and continued to walk with him

Naruto walked along the hallways beside me as if nothing was wrong but I wasn't as quite at ease as he was. Everywhere we turned people stopped what they were doing to stare at us, or better said to stare at _me._

I ignored them all on the way until I caught glimpse of Ino, Shikamaru, and Choji. I inwardly cringed when I laid eyes on Ino, I prepared myself for the 'Sasuke kuns' and hugs of death but they never came. She smiled lightly as she saw Naruto and I headed their way.

"Hey Shikamaru!! Ready for our sparring and training session with a certain someone to improve attacks with your chakra later today?!" asked Naruto beside me excitedly as Shikamaru sighed and placed a hand on his head.

"Sorry Naruto but I can't go, the Hokage wants me to investigate and look through some papers with her." Naruto nodded at him "It's ok I'll just do it by myself then."

I shifted my feet and stared in boredome as Naruto talked with Choji. "hey there," I looked to my left to see Ino standing beside me. I nodded at her as she continued.

"How are you? It's been a long time since you were last here and-" Ino cut herself off when we all felt a burst of chakra. She mouthed out the word bye and disappeared in a puff of smoke.

"C'mon teme!! time for class!!" I heard Naruto call out as he ran past the corner. I sighed and began to walk to where ever he was going.

**_Sakura PoV_**

"So, I guess I'll see you tonight then.." asked Sai as he picked up his brushes and scrolls. I nodded my head and gave him a faint smile.

"Don't be late though ok Sai chan?" I asked teasing him of his nickname. He narrowed his eyes but then a smile appeared on his face.

"Don't worry _Hag_, I'll make sure to be there on time, don't wanna keep an old person waiting now do we?" replied the artist nin and disppeared quickly before I could even move to land a smack upside his head. I smiled to myself and left for class.

**Well that's chapter 1 of my first fic, I re-wrote this chapter because I was reading it one day and noticed that since the very beggining Sasuke was WAY off so yeah thats rlly bad and if I had to summarize how this chap USED to be that word would be...bleh its still not great but I couldn't write alot to make it a whole lot betteror else I would be adding unnesesary things and Id be putting the chaoter after it in it so Its a little better and I also re-wrote this chap along with a few others. I hope its better now and you all enjoy **


	2. Chapter 2

**Hey everyone!! I just got the second chappie up so enjoy and thanx to midnightnova242 for putting this on her story alert. **

**Naruto- remember Katsumi-chan (akatsuki-shadow-sakura) doesn't own me or Sakura-chan or Sai or Sasuke-Teme enjoy!! And plz review . **

_Chapter 2_

Naruto glanced occasionally at Sasuke who was sitting on his left. Since they had gotten to the academy he hadn't said a word and seemed to be in his own world. "Hey teme, are you alright?" Noticing that Naruto had asked him something he snapped out of his thoughts and just looked over at him and nodded.

"You've been quiet ever since we saw Sakura chan and Sai in the hall later." Sasuke glared at him then turned to the front waiting for the teacher to begin. "N-Naruto kun.. is something the matter with Sasuke san?" Naruto looked over to his right and saw Hinata standing beside him.

"Oh hey Hinata chan, I dunno maybe the Teme is PMSing.." mocked the blonde as Sasuke turned to face him and gave him a deathly glare. "Seems like its more like he's anti-social to me" stated Kiba as he passed by them and sat at the table behind theirs.

Sasuke growled in low tone and ignored the numerous stares and dirty looks he was receiving. He closed his eyes and placed his folded hands under his nose and sat in silence until he heard the second bell, indicating that class was about to begin.

"When will Kakashi sensei get here!! He's always s late, from now on I'm gonna stay out for a while and come in late." complained Naruto as he threw his stuff onto the table. Sasuke opened his eyes as he heard light footsteps approaching the table where he and his blonde teammate where seated at, his eyes coming in contact with a certain pink haired girl. He watched her sit on the right of Naruto out of the corner of his eyes.

"Hey Sakura chan! So you have first period Kakashi too huh." exclaimed the blonde as the petal haired kunoichi pulled out a sheet of paper and nodded with a light smile on her face. "I usually don't get late to classes but considering this is Kakashi, I did."

Naruto snatched away the paper in her hands and took a look at it and recognized it to being her schedule. He swiftly maneuvered his hand through sasuke's things and pulled out the schedule along with his own and studied them carefully.

_Haruno, Sakura -Jonin_

_1__st__ period: Ninjutsu- Hatake, Kakashi sensei_

_2__nd__ period: Genjutsu- Yuhi, Kurenai sensei_

_3__rd__ period: Taijutsu- Maito, Gai sensei_

_4__th__ period: Lunch_

_5__th__ period: Medical Ninjutsu (specific ninja) Tsunade sama_

_6__th__ period: free period_

_7__th__ period: Ninja Combat- Sarutobi, Asuma sensei_

_Uchiha, Sasuke -Chunin_

_1st period- Ninjutsu Hatake, Kakashi sensei_

_2nd period- Genjutsu- Yuhi, Kurenai sensei_

_3rd period- Ninja Combat- Sarutobi, Asuma sensei_

_4th period- Lunch_

_5th period- Taijutsu- Maito, Gai sensei_

_6th period - Free period_

_7th period- Escape Tactics- Mitarashi, Anko sensei_

_Uzumaki, Naruto -Jonin_

_1st period- Ninjutsu- Hatake, Kakashi sensei_

_2nd period- Taijutsu- Maito, Gai sensei_

_3rd period- Genjutsu- Yuhi, Kurenai sensei_

_4th period- Lunch_

_5th period- Ninja Combat- Sarutobi, Asuma sensei_

_6th period- Free period_

_7th period- Shinobi History- Yamato sensei_

"Hmm.. Our schedules sure are different..why are you taking escape tactics teme? " Sasuke shrugged as Naruto narrowed his eyes 'He can never give a reply..'

"Hello class, sorry to keep you all waiting I was on the way here and-" Kakashi cut himself off as he looked up and saw Sakura, Naruto and Sasuke glaring intently at him. He smiled sheepishly as he took out a peice of paper and scribbled something onto it.

-xoxo-

-xoxo-

"Hey Naruto, whats up with Sasuke, he sure seems distant today." said Kiba as he sat beside Naruto with his lunch and peered at Sasuke perspictively from accross the the table. "Pff I dunno he's acting all high and mighty again I guess.. but I'll prove him wrong! You'll see!!" exclaimed Naruto as he slammed his hand down on the table.

Said Uchiha directed his irritated gaze at the now 16 year old blonde and narrowed his eyes slightly as Naruto sat back down mumbling incoherent words under his breath.

"...tonight then Sakura?" "No I'm sorry I can't tonight I have plans but I'll see you tomorrow alright?" The Hyuuga heiress smiled as she nodded at the petal haired female.

"Hey Hinata! Sakura!" said girls turned to look at Kiba who was waving a hand for them to sit at the two empty seats that were left beside Naruto and Sasuke. Hinata smiled and made her way over to the three young shinobi but she turned around halfway as she notcied that Sakura hadn't come along with her.

"S-Sakura san?.. Aren't you coming to sit with us?.."asked the midnight haired chunin as Sakura looked over to Sasuke and smiled sadly as she shook her head. "I feel I'm not welcome to sit there.." Hinata glanced over at the raven haired man and turned back to Sakura. "I-Ill sit with you then.." she offered as she took a few steps toward her.

"No you should sit with Naruto I know you want to, I'll just sit with Tenten." said Sakura as she smiled softly and made her way towards the weapons expert. Hinata stared at her for a bit longer and then sat over beside Naruto.

"teme, when are you going to start talking to Sakura chan?.. You know she feels bad and really missed you while you were gone." said Naruto trying to convince him to speak to the young medic.

Sasuke ignored the blonde and closed his eyes as he heard Naruto growl out loud. "You don't even deserve for her to like you! You arragont jerk!!" Sasuke rose to his feet and spared Naruto one last glance "I didn't ask anyone to like me." he said as he walked off leaving a flaming Naruto behind.


	3. Chapter 3

_Chapter 3_

_The date_

Sakura was in her bedroom finishing getting dressed when she heard the doorbell. She went downstairs and opened the door seeing Sai standing there looking at her in awe.

"Hey Sai" said Sakura with a shy smile.

"Hey Sakura you look nice for once hag.." said Sai not taking his eyes off of her. She was wearing a grey miniskirt around mid thigh with pink strapless shirt that tied around her neck with her hair draping around her shoulders.

"Thanks.." she said with a small smile. Sai took a step back as she giggled.

"You know me so well Sai chan " he smiled said as he grabbed her hand and started walking.

"Im glad you accepted my offer for our date Sakura, since i figured that if i asked you out you wouldnt seen as ugly anymore.." said the young man.

As Sakura give him an evil grin and punched him. He grunted and rubbed his arm as she glared playfully at him. Sai and Sakura came inside a small store and he pulled out the chair for her

"Sit here I'll go get us something to eat" he said heading towards the counter. "Alright" she replied back but before she could say more he was gone and she started digging around in her pocket when she sensed some nearby chakra.

She made a hand sign trying to locate them.

Sakura kept searching for the hidden ninja she felt earlier but soon after gave up. 'I'll have to be more alert from now if somebody is following me'

'**Following **_**us**_** you mean' **said Inner Sakura

'And here I thought I had finally gotten rid of you' said Sakura sighing

'**Gotten rid of me? Never I'd never leave you even if I could.. Not that Id want to anyways messing with you is just too much fun' **replied Inner Sakura

Sakura woke from her daze when she noticed Sai had come back and sat down across from her." Here I got us some ramen hope that its alright" he said handing her a plate and some chopsticks.

She smiled back him and said thanks and soon they both began to eat.

--

"So Sakura what do you plan to do with your future?" asked the young man across her.

"well I plan on becoming Konoha's greatest kunoichi what about you?" asked Sakura giving him a smile. "Well I'm hoping to be a poetry writer and an artist" he said as he sweat dropped.

"Wow that's something cool not many guys plan on being something so amazing" "What do you mean amazing? I don't think it's all that cool" he said "Well to me it is because I don't know any guys who would even think of writing poetry or being an artist and I think it's cool that you do." Sakura said giving him a friendly smile.

Sakura then looked down in shock as she saw Sai's hand on her chest, she blushed madly and pushed him away from her knocking him off his chair. "What was that for!?" she asked him getting angry.

Sai slowly got up holding some noodles in his hand and stared at her in amazement by her strength. "…You had some noodles on your shirt" he said blankly

"Oh..I'm sorry" Sakura said flushed my embarrassment.

**Sorry I made this extremely short but the original was too OOC Sasuke so I decided to delete it all since I couldnt think of anything to do with him while Sakura was on her date with Sai. I promise you though that if you keep reading you wont regret it, it gets much much better I promise and much much longer and no more OOC-ness thanx to my beta. Just hang in there and keep reading please, I'd really apreciate it.**


	4. Chapter 4

Chapter 4

Sakura and I were walking through the park and sat down on a bench in front of a pond, "So, how are things with Sasuke back?" Sakura turned her head to look at me

"Is he still that cold hearted bastard like Naruto and you would say?" I asked.

"Well um.. I'm not sure if he is or isn't, I haven't really gotten the chance to speak with him yet.." she replied.

" Well when you do I want to be there so you can introduce us" I said with a smile.

"Oh yea..right I'll remember that" she replied looking down.

I saw the way she was not saying too much about the subject and also felt that something was wrong so I took her her chin in between my thumb and index finger and made her look at me gently.

"If something goes wrong.. I promise to be there to make sure you're ok"

"Thank you Sai" said Sakura and hugged me lightly. At first I was in shock. She had never hugged me before except on a mission we had had together a few weeks ago..

**Flashback**

_Sakura was panting heavily and dodging some shuriken that had been thrown at her. I was behind a tree taking 'cover' from the enemy while I was making a new painting that I had just finished a few days ago and was perfect for a new jutsu when suddenly I felt the earth crumble beneath and jumped out of the way._

_I looked around searching for the source of the earthquake and saw Sakura with her fist in the ground and one of the enemy shin obi falling into the hole she had created.I smirked and found somewhere to finish the painting to help out Sakura._

_I thought I was safe until I heard metal clash and turned around to see Sakura with a look of fear and worry on her face. "Sai!! Look out!!" I turned around to look in front of me and saw a ninja right in front of me with a katana in his hand headed straight towards my head. _

_My eyes widened in shock, it was too late to move block or dodge it so I closed my eyes and awaited the pain, although it never came. _

_Instead I felt a pair of arms wrap around me and something warm on my head. _

_I opened my eyes to be met with the blade that was headed towards me…but it was through somebody's stomach. I looked up a little to see that Sakura was kneeling down hugging me, looking down at me since I had my head on her chest._

_"Sa..kura.." was all I managed to say in pure disbelief and utter shock._

**End of Flashback**

This time was different. That day in the forest she had hugged me to save me but this time she was hugging him because she needed comfort.

So I wrapped my arms around her thin frame and comforted her.

"How about I walk you home Sakura?" I asked her in a low tone as she parted away from me. She gave me a nod and smiled at me, and I smiled back.

-xoxo-

"Thanks for walking me home Sai." said Sakura when they had reached her doorstep. I smiled at her "No problem I'll see you tomorrow at school then." I said.

She nodded and smiled at me "yeah and thanks for tonight, I had fun goodnight Sai" she said turning around.

I grabbed her wrist and pulled her back in front of me and kissed her cheek. "goodnight hag" I said and left.

**Alright, this is the last torture session I shall put you through. Im sorry for the sucky chaps but they were the 'base' of the story and if i changed it too much i would lose my current readers. After this peice of junk, the goodness begins so Im sorry and stick with me plz**


	5. Chapter 5

He tried to pay attention to what Kurenai was saying about genjutsu but he couldnt help to stop himself of thinking about that day.

**_Flashback_**

_He was accompanying Naruto to get some ramen at Ichiraku's when suddenly Kakashi appeared in front of them. "Yo" he said with a quick wave. _

_"Hey Kakashi-sensei we're headed to Ichiraku's for some ramen" said Naruto. "Then looks like I found you at a good time" he replied. Naruto then remembered he hadn't seen Sakura and that she hadn't seen Sasuke yet. _

"_Hey Kakashi-sensei, do you know where Sakura is? She hasn't seen the teme yet." Sasuke seemed to be paying no attention what-so-ever to their conversation until he heard his and Sakura's name. "Oh right, I was about to tell you-" _

_"Tell us what sensei?!" Said Naruto cutting Kakashi off. "Well maybe if you let him finish he'll tell us loser." Naruto growled and gave Sasuke an annoyed look. _

"_Anyway as I was saying, Sakura is with the Hokage. She's giving Sakura some sort of recognition of being Konoha's top medic" Sasuke raised a brow at this and looked at his sensei. Kakashi sighed, _

_"well you see, ever since you left and Naruto started training with Jiraiya, Sakura was lone and she felt weak so she became the Hokage's apprentice and after some time, she surpassed her in strength and now she's Konoha's best medic nin and she's also surpassed her in looks and she has fan boys now." _

_Sasuke's eyes widened a bit. How much had things changed while he was gone?_

" UCHIHA!!!"

Sasuke was cut off his train of thought as he heard Kurenai yelling at him. He glanced to her direction and nodded to let her know he was listening. "I would like you to come here and stand a few feet across from Sakura."

He got up and did as he was told. "Alright class, Sasuke is going to use his Sharingan against Sakura to trap her in a genjutsu and she's going to try to escape with minimal injuries.

I chose Sakura for this example because she is great in releasing, escaping and making genjutsus." explained their sensei. "I won't do it." Kurenai looked at Sasuke puzzled "Excuse me?" "I said I'm not going to do it"

Sasuke was about to start walking back when someone grabbed his shoulder and pulled him back. "And why not?!" It was Sakura who had pulled him back. He looked at her and anger was clearly visible in her eyes. " Hn."

At that statement she angered even more, "Is that ll you have to say?! Is '_The Great Uchiha Sasuke' _too good to even reply to others in a normal way?!" He just stood there, not knowing what to say to her.

She looked at him from top to bottom and said " Your looks may have changed, but you're the same cold hearted Uchiha that left me on a bench 3 years ago." with that she turned around and left the classroom. Leaving behind a shocked Uchiha as well as the rest of the class.

Sakura left a not to her afternoon sensei signed by the Hokage to let them know she wouldn't be attending the rest of her classes. She was walking home alone today, though she would normally walk with team 7 but she didn't want to even see Sasuke and she didn't feel like talking to anybody so she went by herself.

When she reached her house she unlocked the door and went in.

_Sakura PoV_

"Okaa-san, I'm home" I wasited a while for my mother to greet me but it never came so I figured I was the only one home. I dropped my bag on the floor and headed upstairs for a shower.

After a while I came out of the shower, got dressed and headed downstairs for something to eat. I was about to open the fridge when I saw a note. I grabbed it and read it out loud,

"Dear Sakura, your father and I have a business trip to attend to and we'll be gone for a week so we called Mikoto-san and Sasuke will be staying with you, have fun. Love, Mom" I sighed aloud as soon as I finished reading it.

'The day I fight with Sasuke mom decides to leave for a weeks and he has to stay with me…great…just peachy'

_Sasuke PoV_

I was walking home, thinking of today's earlier "event". She seemed so angry at him just because he didn't want to cast a genjutsu on her, but he that that wasn't the only reason she was mad at him.

'There was all the times I hurt her when we were younger…and of course the fact I betrayed her and the village to seek Orochimaru and came back like nothing had happened..' so she did have a reason to be angry with him.

I pushed all thses thoughts to the back of my head as I entered my house. Mikoto greeted me with a smile

"Oh hey Sasuke welcome home. And before I forget, Sakura's mother gave me a call

saying that she and her husband would be gone for a week and they'd like for you to stay with her until they return so pack your things and get ready to leave" she said smiling at me.

I went upstairs and packed a few things and after saying goodbye to my mom I left. On the way to her house I was trying to figure out what the next week would be like we had "argued" that same day at school and I hadn't seen her since.

-xoxo-

Meanwhile, Sakura was at her house reading one of her books on medicinal herbs when she heard the phone ring,

"Moshi moshi" she said answering it.

"Hey Sakura, are you all right?" said the girl at the other end.

"Oh hey Tenten, yeah of course I am, why wouldn't I be?"

"Well, I saw what happened today at Kurenai-sensei's class.."

"Oh.."

"So you're alright?"

"Yeah I'm ok"

"Why'd you explode like that?" asked Tenten concerned

"Well..I guess I needed to let my feelings out."

"So I take it you feel better now"

"A little" she replied

"Will everything be ok between you and Sasuke now?"

Sakura sighed, "He's coming over to stay for a week"

"Wow that's a long time" she said

"Yea well I have to go, Sasuke will be here soon"

"Alright bye" Tenten said and hung up. Sakura hung up as well.

She went over to her couch and plopped onto it, trying to figure out a way to get out of "living" with Sasuke for a week after they had fought and out of nowhere, came Inner Sakura.

**'I can't believe we're spending a whole week with Sasuke-kun! Alone!' **she squealed in delight '_Ugh… I thought you were gone.. And stop saying those thing alright, beside I'm kinda dating Sai' _

**'So? You know your heart is yelling Sasuke so admit that-'** Sakura just started tuning her out as she was heading torwards the door because she heard the knocks.

When she opened it , she saw Sasuke standing there with a bag which she figured carried his clothing and such. "Come in" said Sakura trying to sound cheerful. Without a word, he walked inside and placed his bag on the floor.

After she closed the door they stood there, neither one saying a word, looking at each other in an awkward silence. Sakura decided to speak, thinking her head would explode if she didn't. "So.." she said looking around

" Imsorry" Sasuke spat out. She looked at him in disbelief thinking that she was hearing things "W-what?" she asked. "I said I'm sorry" he turned around and left for the living room.

She stood there in the same spot for a little while kind of surprised he apologized to her but she after a while she smiled and headed off to where Sasuke was. "Are you hungry? There's some food in the kitchen" she said sweetly.

"Hn" Oh how she hated his way of answering things. After a while the young Uchiha got up and headed over towards the fridge. As he was looking for something to eat, Sakura went upstairs to take a shower. When she was finished she went back down to find Sasuke sitting on the couch reading one of Sakura's textbooks in medical ninjutsu.

She coughed to get his attention and he turned to look at her "I'm going to bed alright. Your room is right across from mine and the bathroom is 2 doors down. If you need anything just let me know alright?" said Sakura".

Sasuke nodded at her. "Alright then, goodnight" "Goodnight" he replied as he watched her go up the stairs.

A while later, he too headed upstairs and took a shower and headed for the room across from Sakura's. It was a normal sized room, at the left of the door was another normal sized dark blue door that he assumed to be the closet.

In the middle of the room was a navy blue futon and had light blue drapes hanging from the ceiling to cover the area around the futon. At the right wall there was a navy blue dresser that matched the futon and on the farthest wall there was a normal sized window and next to it was a desk and a chair.

He went over to the center of the room an laid down on the futon. After a while he started to doze off and his breathing evened out as he fell asleep.

_An agonizing cry was heard as one shin obi fell to his knees grabbing the side of his abdomen where the katana had sliced through. The final shinobi stabbed him in the heart and then pulled his sword out. He then looked at all the fallen shin obi to see if any of his comrades has survived the mission. He went near each of the bodies and checked their pulse. _

_His gaze fell upon 2 fellow shinobi, one was having trouble breathing and you could see his vivid blue eyes turning dull and lifeless. The other was in a puddle of their own blood, part of her bubble-gum pink hair was now red from the blood and her skin was extremely pale. _

_They were both on their death bed, no matter what he did, if he did anything, they wouldn't make it._

_He looked at the 2 shin obi in silence, then turned to look at the enemy shin obi who were dead and a smirk appeared on his lips. Suddenly, he felt a shock of pain through his body and let out a grunt of pain._

_ He clutched the back of his neck trying to ease the pain. When he was starting to feel better again, he felt another shock but this time he let out a cry as he fell to his knees clutching his neck harder. _

_Then a maniacal chuckle filled the air as more pain appeared. He felt a liquid between his fingers and removed his hand as he looked at it and saw it of a crimson color as another shock of pain appeared. _

Sasuke shot up from his bed sweating and panting. He looked around franticly and noticed he was still in 'his' room at Sakura's house. He glanced over to the clock and it read 3:58 am.

Knowing that school didn't start for another 3 hours, he laid back down and tried to fall asleep once more but failed miserably. He closed his eyes to relax a bit and began to contemplate every form and possibility he had of reaching the Akatsuki, but his mind kept drifting off to that night…

_I was running full speed towards Orochimaru's chambers but I stopped at a door that had blood spilling from under it. As I opened the door I saw my 'team' standing among dead ninja. I looked at Suigetsu to see his sword covered in blood. _

_Then I turned to Juugo, his clothing had a few bloodstains on it and he was clutching a bloody kunai in his right hand. I looked around for the missing ninja but saw nothing other than blood, kunai, shuriken and dead bodies. _

_I then directed my gaze over to Juugo and Suigetsu "Where is she" They both looked at me and I could see a hint of sadness in Suigetsu's eyes but it quickly disappeared. "She's dead" answered Juugo in a firm tone. _

"_Who killed her" I said rather than asked. Suigetsu plunged his sword in the body that was a few feet away from them. "Kabuto" they nodded at me. I glanced once more at the bloodshed before I left._

_I was running for a while down a few hallways until I stopped in front of a large door. AS I was about to open it, I heard a voice at the other side "Come in..Sasuke" . I opened the door and entered the dark room. _

_I saw him there sitting on his chair as usual, "What is it now?" he said venomously since he was angered by the fact that he couldn't yet take the young Uchiha's body. "I'm here to kill you Orochimaru" he chuckled briefly, "And what makes you believe that you can even do so" he said with a smug look on his face. _

_"I have surpassed you" He again chuckled "You have not surpassed me, for I taught you everything __**you**__ know but not everything __**I **__know" I sent him a deadly glare in response. "I gave you everything Sasuke, my time, knowledge, patience-" _

_I tuned him out and inwardly cringed at the snake sannin's words. He made it sound as if we were married and he was the woman that would begin to whine and point out everything she had given him when her husband decided to leave her. _

_I pushed these horrid thoughts to the back of my head and began to listen once more.__"…I saw your potential and even gave you that cure mark" "And now I want to rid myself of it." I said to him. _

_"Is that so? And why do you no longer want it?" he said smirking. I glared at him, for he very well knew the answer as I had told him before. "Enough talking, time for you to die" I spat as I activated my sharing an and sped towards him. _

_As I neared him, I pulled my fist back but before it connected he disappeared. I turned around only to spot him a few feet away "Eager, aren't we" he said licking his lips. I glared at him and again sped towards him and threw 2 kunai at him, which he easily dodged. _

_He then ran at me and grabbed my arm with his tongue. Before he could do anything, I launched a kick at him but he released my arm and jumped back. I took the opportunity to make some hand signs. _

_Just as I finished them he had wrapped his tongue around my ankle and pulled me towards him. He then started spinning me around. He let go in the air and I fell to the other side of the room. _

_As I was getting up a sensed a nearby chakra and tried to move out of the way but a katana ended up piercing through my shoulder. _

_I let out a cry of pain and fell to the ground. When I arose once more, I felt the mark on my neck pulsate and the black markings began to spread over my body. I pulled out my katana and ran towards Orochimaru. _

_He too started towards me with his deadly blade held by his tongue. As I swung at him, a sickening smile crept onto his face. He dodged and countered all my attacks. He then threw a kick at me which I grabbed with one hand and the same happened with his other leg. _

_Then he swung at me with his sword and all I could do was move slightly towards the right seeing as both of my arms were occupied. _

_I moved to the right, releasing him and I jumped back a few feet away from him. When I landed a felt a sting through my body and looked over to see he had managed to make a small gash in my arm. _

_Then that maniacal laughter was heard once more, "You see dear Sasuke-kun, you will never defeat me." "Be quiet" I glowered at him. "You're not strong enough" "…" "You'll never be strong enough to do anything" "Just shut up!!!" _

_Then I felt my shirt rip as hand like wings emerged from my shoulder blades and my skin became a shade of gray. "My, my, planning t use my own creation against me are you" he said smirking. I disappeared and then re-appeared right in front of him as my fist connected with his face. I took the opportunity and made some hand signs _

_"Fire style: Fire Ball Jutsu" Orochimaru quickly jumped out of the way and avoided my attack. He suddenly disappeared and I looked around to find him. 'forward, left, right, back..' As I turned around there was a foot headed my way but I had no time to block or dodge it. It connected with my stomach and sent me back and I hit the wall creating few cracks. _

_Before I had a chance to get up, his tongue encircled around my neck and started squeezing it. I was running out breath so I drew out my katana and stabbed it into his tongue to the stone floor. I quickly made some hand seals and called out "Fire Style: Phoenix Flower Jutsu" the fire surrounded him making a circle around him cutting off the oxygen. _

_I quickly made another set of seals and ran at him "Chidori!! One thousand fold!" _

_His eyes widened as my chidori connected with his abdomen. When everything settled, I caught my breath and saw the snake sannin covered in blood. Then I felt a wave of pain emit through my body and I gritted my teeth in pain. _

_Then his laughter could be heard once more, "You fool…killing me won't rid you of the curse." I glared at him "how" He looked at me and smirked. "simple.." he coughed up some blood. "Follow that which you seek.." _

_"what I seek?" "your hearts……desire" he said in-between a cough. I looked down at him emotionlessly "enjoy yourself in the afterlife.." _

_He began to chuckle weakly, "Foolish Sasuke……I'm not going to die" I glared down at him and pierced my sword through his heart. His eyes widened and became blank. I then pulled out my sword and wiped it using his shirt. _

_I glanced at him once more before I left "I've surpassed you.."_

I was pulled out of my thoughts by a beeping sound and turned to the clock to see it was 7:00 am, time for school…


	6. Chapter 6

_Recap_

When everything settled, I caught my breath and saw the snake sannin covered in blood. Then I felt a wave of pain emit through my body and I gritted my teeth in pain. Then his laughter could be heard once more, "You fool…killing me won't rid you of the curse."

I glared at him "how" He looked at me and smirked. "simple.." he coughed up some blood.

"Follow that which you seek..""what I seek?""your hearts……desire" he said in-between a cough. I looked down at him emotionlessly "enjoy yourself in the afterlife.."

He began to chuckle weakly, "Foolish Sasuke……I'm not going to die" I glared down at him and pierced my sword through his heart. His eyes widened and became blank. I then pulled out my sword and wiped it using his shirt.

I glanced at him once more before I left "I've surpassed you.."

I was pulled out of my thoughts by a beeping sound and turned to the clock to see it was 7:00 am, time for school…

**Curse Marked Love**

**Chapter 6**

At school that day, we were in shinobi history ((one of the electives I was dragged into by Naruto)) and Yamato-sensei was speaking of the legendary sannin and blah, blah, blah… I wasn't paying much attention since I was thinking of that odd dream I had had last night. Everything in it was like a blur.

Dead shinobi everywhere and a few seemed to be my comrades, also the pain emanating from my neck. I was brought back from my thoughts by the sudden burst of chakra indicating it was time for my next class.

I got up and put my scroll on a shelf with the rest of my 'classmates' and left. I walked out the door and headed towards the room where the anbu would give us our class. By the time I got there, Sakura was the only one from my squad that had arrived besides me. I took a seat on her left and she smiled at me.

"Hey Sasuke" "Hn.." she sighed at my response and looked around the room. I looked at her face and noticed her puzzled look "What's wrong" I stated rather than asked.

"We're on the anbu's room and we're the only ones here, including Naruto of course." I looked at her and understood what she was saying "That only means one thing.." she continued. "a mission" I finished for her.

As if on cue, Naruto came in and sat on the right of Sakura. "Hey Sakura-chan, teme…how come the room's so empty?" he asked looking around.

"Probably a mission briefing" replied the pink haired ninja. Naruto looked over to me "huh?" I sighed at him "We're the only ones here, which means we're getting a mission dobe."

Right that moment an anbu appeared and we all stood up from our seats. "Squad 7?" he asked

"Hai" replied Sakura. "You have a mission, there's a scroll in Iwagakure that once belonged to Akatsuki, you must retrieve it and return with the scroll in 3 to 4 days" stated the masked anbu.

"Eh..what if we run into somebody?" asked the blonde haired nin. "If you encounter enemy shinobi, you are to take them out and make it back with the scroll, understood?"

"Hai" we replied in unison. "Good, you are to leave in an hour, go home and get ready you all know where to meet. Any other information you might need is in the scroll." he said throwing the scroll to Sakura and disappeared.

"See you guys at the Konoha gates" said Naruto.

-xoxo-

We were jumping from tree to tree in silence, our senses honed and alert of our surroundings. "Hey teme, what do you think is inside the scroll we're supposed to fetch?" I ignored his question and Sakura replied instead.

" Just think Naruto, it's a B ranked mission, we have to be back in 4 days at the most and if we encounter enemies we have to take them out." "So it's something important?" I nodded and jumped down, joined by Naruto and Sakura a moment later.

"I think we should camp here for the night, I'll set up camp. Naruto, look for something to eat and Sakura, secure the area." They nodded and Naruto took off. I looked at Sakura quizzically seeing as she was still here.

She smiled at me and walked over to a tree. She then bit her thumb drawing blood, made some hand signs and placed her hand near the tree. When the small puff of smoke cleared, there was a small cherry blossom.

She closed her eyes and made one more hand sign. I waited for her to finish a few moments wondering what she was doing. After a while, she opened her eyes, "clear" she said and walked towards me to help set up camp.

After we finished, Sakura got some firewood and I lit it with my fire jutsu and we sat down waiting for Naruto. We sat in silence for a while doing absolutely nothing until Sakura left and came back with a scroll.

I gave her a puzzled look and she quickly understood, "I'm working on a new jutsu" she said and took a seat across from me and started reading. 'She looks so peaceful..her jade eyes shining like emeralds..'

I snapped out of it and cut my thoughts if Sakura off. She was just my teammate, when did I start admiring her and looking at her like that? And more importantly why?? "Hey guys, I brought back some fish!" said Naruto when he finally came back.

"Hn, sure took you long enough." Naruto gave me an annoyed look. Sakura then got up and took the fish from Naruto. "I already cleaned the fish and took out the insides so you wouldn't have to Sakura-chan." said the blonde grinning.

"Thanks Naruto" she replied smiling at him.

After eating we all started cleaning up and were about to go to bed. "Hey teme, who's gonna keep watch first?" asked the ramen crazy ninja. I opened my mouth to say something but Sakura beat me to it.

"Nobody has to keep watch" I looked at her wondering why she would say such a thing. "And why not Sakura-chan?" She then pointed to the small cherry blossom she had summoned earlier. "Simple Naruto, I summoned that cherry blossom and when I did, I put some of my blood and chakra into it.

My chakra goes from the flower to the ground and spreads out through a 10 mile radius-" "but what did you need the blood and chakra to spread out for?" Naruto cut in. "If you'd let me finish you'd know, when an enemy shinobi steps into the 10 mile radius where my chakra is, I'll know because of the blood in the flower." she finished.

"Wow Sakura-chan, you aure are smart. That'll help out a lot of other missions." said the blonde smiling. "Who taught you that jutsu?" I asked. "Nobody, I made it." she said smiling. I inwardly smirked and went to sleep.

-xoxo-

The next day we made it to Iwa by noon and met up with the guy that had the scroll. He handed us the scroll and we were on our way back to Konoha and I spotted the cherry blossom Sakura had summoned earlier.

I looked up at her figuring she would make some signs and get rid of it but instead I saw her stop suddenly and I stopped next to her. "What's wrong, aren't you going to get rid of the flower" I asked her in a colder tone than I intended to. "No..it's not my flower" she said looking dead serious.

"Huh? Whaddya mean it's not your flower Sakura-chan?" "Because Naruto, when someone comes inside the 10 mile radius I'm supposed to feel a pull at my chakra. Right now, the flower is right behind us, which means that we had entered the 10 mile radius a while ago but I haven't felt anything."

she explained. Naruto was very serious now, "so that means.." "genjutsu" I said. We all closed our eyes and made a hand sign. "Kai." we said in unison. I opened my eyes to see that there were three hidden mist ninja looking at us, smirking. "Well, I guess that Pinky here's the smart one.

Nice job noticing our genjutsu…but not good enough!" said one of them and charged towards Sakura while the other 2 came at me and Naruto.

Sakura PoV

After a while of fighting I grew tired. I blocked a punch that was thrown at me and plunged a kunai into my opponent's stomach. I took the opportunity and looked over to Naruto and saw that he was using his Rasengan against the mist nin he was fighting.

Then I looked over to Sasuke and saw him swinging his katana with an annoyed look on his face. We were all tired and needed to finish this fast.

I felt a chakra in front of me and my attention back towards the nin I was fighting. He was coming towards me but I didn't have enough time to do anything as I felt his fist connect with my stomach.

I bent over and opened my mouth gasping for air as I closed my eyes shut and fell to the ground. "Aaaaahh!!" I heard 2 yells and tried to get up quickly. When I got back on my feet, one of the mist nins was dead while the other was wounded on his side.

I figured that Naruto and Sasuke were the ones who had done that and looked around for them. I saw Naruto with several kunai in his body and Sasuke lying beside him pinned to the forest floor by several kunai.

My heart started ounding as I ran towards them not noticing the ninja behind me watching. I bent down and checked Naruto, he was unconscious with no chakra left but he would be ok. I then turned to Sasuke and saw he had his eyes open.

"Sasuke, are you-" "I'm fine" he said cutting me off before I could finish. I nodded at him and reached to pull out the kunai but quickly pulled my hand back as a shuriken flew past me.

"Ah ah ah, now its just you and me Pinky" I quickly stood up and saw the shinobi I had been fighting earlier. "Just hand over the scroll and leave, then I'll be on my way." he said. Naruto was unconscious and Sasuke was pinned down.

I had to help them and complete the mission. It was all up to me.

**_I think we have an emergency,_**

**_I think we have an emergency…_**

"I won't hand you the scroll" I said and ran at him throwing kunai and shuriken.

**_If you thought I'd leave then you were wrong,_**

_'_**_Cause I won't stop holding on…_ **

He blocked them all with his own kunai and lunged at me. I moved to the left and dodged it and landed a kick at his side.

**_So are you listening?,_**

**_So are you watching me?…_**

He got up and made some seals and a really thick mist appeared. I inwardly smirked, for I had seen this jutsu before, when fighting Zabuza. I made a set of quick seals and called out "Sakura Rain Jutsu"

**_If you thought I'd leave then you were wrong,_**

_'**Cause I won't stop holding on…**_

Through the mist appeared a rain of Sakura petals absorbing the chakra in the mist. The man scowled at me and ran towards me rapidly. I quickly threw some shuriken at him and punched him as he turned to water. ' water clone' I quickly turned to see him making more seals as he called out " Ultimate Jutsu: Mind Destruction Mist"

**_This is an emergency,_ **

**_So are you listening?…_**

A purple mist suddenly came at me and circled around my body. My eyes widened as I clutched my head and started screaming. Still pinned down, Sasuke watched his teammate screaming in agony. 'What is he doing to her?'

**_And I can't pretend that I don't see this…_**

"Stop!! Don't do it!!" I screamed, horrified at what I was seeing. Naruto was still lying unconscious but Sasuke had managed to get free. He had his katana in his hand and was swinging it away at the unconscious form of Naruto mercilessly

**_It's really not your fault,_**

**_That no one cares to talk about it,_**

**_To talk about it_…**

The mist nin chuckled and put more chakra and energy into his jutsu. "Looks like it's working.."

Sasuke glared at the shin obi but quickly turned to Sakura as he heard her scream. "No! Stop it Sasuke! Don't do this, you don't want to kill Naruto!!" I screamed while tears started to well up in my eyes.

Sasuke's expression quickly turned to shock and concern both at once. She was seeing him kill Naruto because of the jutsu the mist nin had on her.

"SASUKE!!!!!" Sasuke Noticed she had stilled while tears were flowing freely down her cheeks from her widened jade orbs. He looked at her, wondering what was wrong.

She then fell to her knees looking straight towards where he and Naruto were. "You…killed him..Naruto…you killed Naruto….NARUTO!!!" she yelled crying.

I pulled out a kunai, tears still running down my face and placed it above my heart. "Sakura…" said Sasuke staring in disbelief as I pulled the kunai back and started to bring it down quickly aiming for my heart.

_'**Cause I've seen love die, way too many times**_

**_When it deserved to be alive…_ **

Sasuke closed his eyes, he didn't want to see this happen, he couldn't let it happen...he wouldn't.

"Sakura stop!!" Then a clang was heard. Sasuke opened his eyes to see her hands open right in front of her heart, her eyes wide open and the kunai on the floor.

He let out a breath he hadn't noticed he had been holding. "Sasu..ke.." I said in disbelief. "Sakura it's a genjutsu. This is something you're good at, you can fight it!!"

The mist nin scowled at Sasuke and put more chakra into his jutsu. Sasuke looked over to Sakura and sae her clutching her head while she was yelling and crying.

Crying…He had seen her cry so many times before, and a lot of the times that she did were because of him. This time it was no different, he was the cause of her shedding tears once more.

**_I've seen you cry, way too many times _**

**_When you deserved to be alive, alive…_**

Sasuke then noticed something, Sakura was still crying but she was no longer clutching her head or yelling. Her trembling arms were rising together in front of her slowly.

She then put her hands together and shakily made a hand sign. "Kai!!"

I opened my eyes and saw that Sasuke was still pinned down and Naruto still unconscious.

A wave of relief washed over me, but it quickly ended as I felt a sharp pain through my shoulder.

**_So you give up ever chance you get,_**

**_Just to feel new again…_**

I looked to my shoulder and saw a kunai embedded into it. I pulled it out and partially healed the wound.

I got up and turned to face the mist nin once more. "Heh..so you broke the jutsu, I'm still going to kill you" he said and rushed towards me, I tried to block but he got around my guard and punched me.

I got up and wiped the blood that was coming from the side of my mouth and got into a fighting stance.

**_I think we have an emergency,_**

**_I think we have an emergency…_**

The mist nin came towards me throwing punches and kicks at me which I managed to block. I then threw some at him and blocked as well. I tried one more kick and he blocked it, but he left an opening and I saw it.

I quickly took the chance and infused chakra into my fist and punched his side but he disappeared in a puff of smoke. A second later he appeared behind me and put a kunai to my neck. "This is the end pinky" I closed my eyes and got ready to face the truth that I had lost.

'Naruto'

I quickly opened my eyes 'Naruto needs me'. I grabbed his hand in mine to stop him from plunging to kunai into my skin but he flicked his wrist and sent flying towards me.

'Sasuke'

I quickly caught the kunai in between my fingers and got a firm grip on it. I moved a little to the side and managed to plunge the kunai into the shinobi's arm. 'Sasuke needs me'

**_And you do your best to show me love,_**

**_But you don't know what love is…_**

He let go of me and I took the opportunity and jumped away. The mist nin glared at me intensely, he was sick of all this fighting and so was I.

**_So are you listening?_**

**_So are you watching me?_**

I had to finish this and fast. This fight was taking to long and we had to get back to Konaha soon. Plus Naruto and Sasuke can't do anything at the moment and I've already wasted some valuable energy and chakra.

Sasuke was getting rather impatient at the fight taking place before him. He knew that it was taking too much time and energy.

**_And I can't pretend that I don't see this…_**

Sasuke grunted in displeasure and noticed Sakura take out some shuriken.

"That wont work on me Pinky"

"Who said it's for you" I replied and threw the shuriken at the Sakura petals from my earlier jutsu.

The petals got pinned on the ground around us as I made a few hand signs and everything started to change. We were now surrounded by Sakura petals on the forest floor.

My opponent looked around and chuckled "flowers?.." he said with a smirk. 'cocky bastard' I made another hand sign with one hand as I grabbed a Sakura petal with the other and blew it into the air.

I made some more hand signs as all the Sakura petals started to rise into the air and circle above us.

**_It's really not your fault,_**

**_That no one cares to talk about it,_**

**_To talk about it…_**

"Sakura blades!" I called out as the petals started circling faster. I closed my eyes and blew at the petals above me as they started coming down at an incredibly fast speed cutting the enemy nin.

He tried dodging them but there were too many so he ended up with many cuts on his skin. "Is that…all you got" he said slowly. I narrowed my eyes at him and made another hand sign.

**_I've seen love die, way too many times_**

**_When it deserved to be alive…_**

All of the Sakura petals arose once more and formed a large cherry blossom. It started twirling quickly as the small petals flew at the ninja and embedded into his skin like daggers.

I made another hand sign and the large cherry blossom flew towards him at full speed. He managed to move out of the way in time but I made some chakra strings connecting to the flower and pulled it back towards him.

He let out a cry of pain and fell to his knees as the cherry blossom plunged into his back and I released the jutsu.

**_And I've seen you cry, way too many times_**

**_When you deserve to be alive, alive…_**

He struggled to get up but made it to his feet. I narrowed my eyes at him and pulled out a kunai as he pulled out his own. We ran towards each other and exchanged blows, he then threw his kunai at me which I deflected with my own and grabbed it before it hit the ground.

He pulled out a sword and ran at me as did I with kunai in both hands.

Sasuke intensely observed the battle before him. He noticed how hard Sakura was fighting to protect Naruto…to protect him..even though he had caused her so much pain.

**_The scars they will not,_**

**_Fade way…_**

I blocked his attack a he swung his sword at me once again. I connected my chakra infused foot with his stomach as he stumbled back.

I threw some kunai and shuriken at him and he managed to block some but 2 of them hit his arm and leg. I then threw a kunai at the one in his arm to free him. The kunai in his arm loosened and he started to move his hand.

I then noticed the mist nin was heading my way once more. He swung his sword at me and I was able to block it with a kunai and threw a punch at him but he managed to move in time.

**_I've seen love die, way too many times_**

**_When it deserved to be alive…_**

He lunged at me but I ducked in time and swept my leg under his feet. He quickly jumped out of the way and came at me once more.

Sasuke watched from where he was not wanting to miss anything and observing how strong Sakura had become. Then he saw something, the mist nin was trying to hit Sakura with a punch but while she was busy blocking it, there was a clone coming at her with a sword which he thought she hadn't noticed.

"Sakura behind-"

"I know Sasuke!! Just please stay quiet or you'll get in the way!!" I replied in a much harsher tone than I had intended to cutting him off. Sasuke was taken aback by her reply but he did as told none-the-less.

I took out the clone behind me and punched the mist nin away. I took the chance and made some quick hand signs, "Sakura burial jutsu" I called out as more Sakura petals emerged and surrounded the mist nin while he threw some kunai at me.

I was busy trying to keep the jutsu going and I had dodged all the kunai except one that had hit my shoulder and I winced in pain. "Sakura!" Called Sasuke seeing my injury. I quickly finished the seals and the petals embedded themselves into him.

Most of them went through his heart and lungs as he let out a yell. I then noticed something…his sword was missing. I looked around for it and noticed it heading towards Sasuke but he didn't see it for he was busy trying to free himself.

Sasuke finally managed to free one of his hands and felt something warm trickle down his cheek. He reached to his face and wiped it off and saw the crimson color of the liquid. 'blood?'

He turned back to look ahead of him and noticed Sakura in front of him with a sword through the middle of her chest and she was crying. Sasuke's eyes widened in shock, "Sa..kura?.." he said in disbelief.

"I told you..you would get in the way.." she said barely even whispering but Sasuke had heard it. He looked at her for a while in shock "Sakura.." he whispered. She smiled weakly, tears rolling down her face and went limp in his arms.

**_And I've seen you cry, way too many time_**

**_When you deserved to be alive, alive…_**


	7. Chapter 7

**Hey Everyone!!**

**I'm really not the type to write authors notes often bcuz I rlly dont like 'em interruptin stories but this is one of the few times i will. The reason for my writing this authors note is bcuz one of my most awesome and constant reviewers and readers was afraid I'd discontinue the story or I wouldn't be able to update soon, sooo for you my most awesome reviewer_ bloodygirl_, I will update the next chappie soon bcuz I already have internet in my new home and ill keep writing! Thanx for always reviewing and I'll try my hardest to keep the chapters rlly good**

**see you soon,**

**-Katsumi-chan**


	8. Chapter 8

**Konnichiwa!!** **I missed you guys soo much!! Wow, I feel like I haven't dome this in ages XD lolz anyways, I have setteled into my new home and I have written many chappies for this fic and I have started _Bring Me to Life_ I hope you enjoy,**

**Arigato gozaimas, **

**Bloodygirl : XD the story will not end yet so don't worry lolz and thanx I try very hard for you guys!! my readers, even though I dont have many :) **

**SCB2011 : Thank you I rlly appreciate it!! Lolz I promise I will keep updating and Im glad you like it **

**_ So without further ado..._**

**_Curse Marked Love_**

**_Chapter 7_**

**_Calm Down!!_**

**_Recap_**

_Sasuke finally managed to free one of his hands and felt something warm trickle down his cheek. He reached to his face and wiped it off and saw the crimson color of the liquid. __'__blood?__'__ He turned back to look ahead of him and noticed Sakura in front of him with a sword through the middle of her chest and she was crying. Sasuke__'__s eyes widened in shock, __"__Sa..kura?..__"__ he said in disbelief. __"__I told you..you would get in the way..__"__ she said barely even whispering but Sasuke had heard it. He looked at her for a while in shock __"__Sakura..__"__ he whispered. She smiled weakly, tears rolling down her face and went limp in his arms._

_**And I**__**'**__**ve seen you cry, way too many time**_

_**When you deserved to be alive, alive**__**…**_

_**Sasuke PoV**_

I laid there still in shock. Sakura was lying on top of me with a sword through her chest…because she saved me. _Me_, the one person in her life that didn't deserve to be saved by her because of all the pain I had caused her and still…she risked her own life for _me._ I looked down at her and then realization hit me. I had to get out of here and get her safely back to Konoha along with Naruto. I freed my left hand and moved Sakura off of me so I could free my legs. Once I had done that, I made a clone that took Naruto and sped off towards Konoha. I then looked to Sakura and saw the sword still in her chest. I pulled it out carefully not to further open the wound. I ripped a piece of my shirt and tied it around her wound. I looked down at her pale face, blood dripping through the side of her mouth. I placed a hand on her cheek and instantly felt something in my chest like I had something sharp go through it.

What was it? Worry? Pain? Regret? Guilt?…Yea, it was all of those. _Worry_…I was worried for her safety, worried we wouldn't make it back to Konoha in time to save her. _Pain_… because even though I pushed her away all of my life and left her behind like she didn't mean anything in my life, she was always there for me and always stuck by my side when I needed someone…even if I didn't want to admit it. _Regret…_of all the sadness, hurt, heartbreak and pain I put her through…when she did nothing to deserve it, and _guilt_…because it was technically my fault she was in this situation, lying here unconscious, fragile, vulnerable...and again hurt because of me.

I ignored the questions in my head, asking why I felt all of these damned emotions towards her. I cupped her cheek gently and whispered to her "Gomen…gomenasai Sakura.." I then picked her up carefully and held her in my arms bridal style, demo.. There was one thing I didn't like about this position. Instead of her head being on my chest, it was hanging in the air. I quickly came to a conclusion that that wasn't a good sign. I put some chakra into my feet and sprinted towards Konoha as quickly as I could.

-_-xoxo--_

_-xoxo-_

_--xoxo--_

I looked down at the still figure in my arms and leaned towards her to make sure she was still breathing. I could feel the air from her slightly parted lips gently touching my face. I looked forward to finally see the Konoha gates. Then I spotted the clone entering with an unconscious Naruto over his shoulder. I sprinted as fast as I could trying to get there as soon as possible. When I made it to the gates, I entered and the guards came rushing towards me. One of them took Sakura from my arms and sprinted off towards the hospital. I felt some arms around my shoulders and I figured it was a Konoha ninja to be the one helping me. I turned to face my left side and confirmed my thoughts as I saw a Konoha ninja wearing an anbu mask with grey hair. The last thing I heard was the ninja talking "Don't worry, we'll be at the hospital soon Sasuke." Then darkness took over me as I fell into unconsciousness.

_**Naruto PoV**_

"Hey miss, I heard that Sasuke-teme and Sakura-chan are still here from our mission and they switched rooms what rooms are they in?" I asked politely. I had come out of the hospital a few days ago but it had already been a week and Sasuke and Sakura were still there. She smiled at me and looked through some papers. "Well Uchiha Sasuke is ins room 203 and Haruna Sakura is in room…" I looked at her quizzically "Why did you stop? What room is Sakura-chan in?"

"Excuse me but, here it says that only one person in allowed to visit her and know what room she is in" she answered me. "Who is it?" She looked down at the paper and skimmed through it. "It says here it's a young shinobi named Sai." "SAI?! Why him?! I want to know she's in right NOW or I swear I'll-" "Naruto, I'm sure this nurse is only following orders. C'mon I'll take you to see Sasuke." said the anbu with grey hair as he walked towards me. "Uhh…okay" I said as I slowly made my way towards him.

On the way to Sasuke's hospital room, the anbu removed his mask. "Sugoi! Kakashi-sensei when did you become an anbu!?" I asked him. His eye creased so I figured he was smiling "I became an anbu 2 days ago Naruto, when you three were off on your mission." He answered calmly. I nodded at him as silence overtook us. It was driving me crazy so I decided to ask him something. "So Kakashi-sensei, have you seen the teme yet?" He looked at me and nodded. "I was at the gates when you three arrived from the mission. You made it first here, with one of Sasuke's clones carrying you. Sasuke made it a few minutes later, almost drained of chakra with an unconscious Sakura in his arms."

I was about to ask him something else but we stopped in front of a door with the numbers 203 on it and Kakashi opened it. When we made it in we saw Sasuke sitting in a chair looking outside the window.

_**Sasuke PoV**_

I turned to the door when I heard it open and saw Kakashi and Naruto coming in. "Hey Sasuke, feeling better?" asked my homeroom sensei. I nodded to him in response. I only had minor scratches and bandages around my hands and feet but for some reason the Hokage wouldn't let me leave yet. "So Sasuke… what happened on the mission? You know you have to tell us sooner or later." I looked at him and waited a while, contemplating an answer. "We had gotten the scroll from the man in Iwa according to plan. When we were coming back though…some mist ninja attacked us. Naruto killed one using his Rasengan and one of them had caught me off and pined me down using shuriken." He looked at my bandaged hands and feet and nodded for me to continue. "The only one left able to fight was Sakura. They gave her a chance to give up the scroll and they would leave…but she declined. She fought the mist nin that seemed to be the leader. He was very strong…for a moment…I thought that she wouldn't make it..

"_SASUKE!!__"_

"_You__…__killed him..Naruto__…__you killed Naruto__…__.NARUTO!!__"_

…but she pulled through." "So?… What happened to the enemy ninja?" asked Kakashi. "She killed them." I stated blankly as if it were the most natural thing ever…which in the shinobi world it was…but not for Sakura to do it. Kakashi looked at me with a somewhat shocked expression. "Wait, id Sakura-chan killed him, why is she only here and only Sai is allowed to see her?" asked Naruto who had been surprisingly quiet through the whole thing. I narrowed my eyes and clenched my fists. Though I didn't see it, Kakashi noticed this and he smirked under his mask. "Sai" I stated darkly rather than asked. Naruto nodded at me and asked again, "What happened to Sakura-chan teme?"

_**Flashback**_

_I was busy trying to free on of my hands and didn't notice anything after I heard the mist nin scream in pain. I had finally managed to free one of my hands and felt something warm trickle down my cheek. I reached to my face and wiped it off and saw the crimson color of the liquid. __'__blood?__'__ I turned back to face in front of me and noticed Sakura in front of him with a sword through the middle of her chest and she was crying. My eyes widened in shock, __"__Sa..kura?..__"__ I said in disbelief. __"__I told you..you would get in the way..__"__ she said barely even whispering but I had heard it. I looked at her for a while in shock __"__Sakura..__"__ I whispered. She smiled weakly, tears rolling down her face and went limp in my arms._

_**End Flashback**_

I looked down and closed my eyes "Hn.. I'm tired, I want to sleep." I said making my way over to the bed. Naruto sighed and left the room along with Kakashi. I laid back down on my bed trying to sleep. As I was drifting off, one person kept coming into mind as she was the last of my thoughts before I fell sleep. _'Sakura…' _

_**Sai PoV**_

'This is my fault' I kept telling myself as I sat beside her. 'I should've been there…I should've gone…I should've tried harder to change her mind.'

_**Flashback**_

_I was in front of the Hokage's office door knocking on it, waiting to be able to go inside since I had been called there earlier today. "Come in" said a voice from inside as I entered the room closing the door behind me quietly and stood in fron of her, stacked with papers, desk. "You needed me Hokage sama" I said pretending to be polite. She looked up at me with her honey colored eyes and nodded at me. "I need you to take this scroll to one of the anbu down at the gates to let them know that squad 7 will be leaving on a mission later today." "We have a mission today?" I asked her curiously. "The mission is for team 7, excluding you, Kakashi and Yamato." _

"_So, only Sakura, Naruto and the Uchiha are going." "Exactly." she replied looking back down to her paperwork. "But Hokage sama, I have to go." She raised a blonde brow at me "And why do you __**have**__ to go?" she asked me curiously. I looked down at the floor, I couldn't tell her I needed to go because of Sakura…nobody knew of our current relationship, if you could even call it that, and I didn't want to say something that could put Sakura in some sort of trouble or danger. "well?" she pressed further. I closed my eyes as I tightly clenched my fists. "Well then, I think there's no reason you __**need**__ to go so that will be all for now Sai." she said placing her chin on her hands. "Demo boku-" "But nothing Sai! You're not going, that's final!" she said towering over her desk with her hands placed on it. I grit my teeth as my knuckles turned a white color. "Yes, __**Ho**__kage sama.."_

_**End Flashback**_

I looked down at Sakura's motionless body… 'she looks so pale.' I reached my hand out to touch her face but as soon as my fingers came in contact with her skin I pulled my hand back and a frown took over my face. 'Her skin is cold as ice..' I put my hand back on her face and caressed her skin with my fingers, my expression softening while I looked at her. She was lying motionless in a hospital bed, tubes helping her breathe and monitoring her heart rate, her face pale, her skin cold…she just looked so…_fragile_. "Sakura…" I whispered.

_**Flashback**_

_Sakura and I were walking through the park when we spotted a bench in front of a pond as we sat down. "So.. How are things with the Uchiha back?" Sakura turned to look at me. "Is he still that cold hearted bastard like dickless wonder would say?" I asked her. "Well umm.. I'm not sure if he is or isn't. I haven't really gotten the chance to talk with him just yet." she replied in a low tone. "Well when you do, I want to be there so you can introduce us." I said with a smile. "Oh yeah…of course, I'll be sure to remember that." she replied looking down. I noticed how she wasn't saying much about the subject and I felt like something was troubling her so I took her chin in-between my thumb and index finger and made her gently look up at me._

"_If anything goes wrong…I promise I'll be there, to make sure you're alright." she looked up at me with soft eyes. "Thank you Sai" she said and hugged me lightly. _

_**End Flashback**_

'I promised her I'd be there if anything happened… I promised I'd make sure she was always safe… I should've gone even if I wasn't suppose to… I should've been there, I should've saved her!' I pulled my hand away from her face as I felt something hot take over me. I felt as though I was about to burst any second, like someone had started a fire inside my body. I wanted to tear apart anything I could see. I wanted to break or hit something with all of the strength and force in my body. I growled louder than I meant to as I grabbed a glass of water. As I brought it up to my mouth in an attempt to calm down I broke it in my hand.

'What's going on with me?' I asked myself as I looked at the shattered pieces of glass in my hand. 'What's this feeling rushing through my body?'

_**Flashback**_

_I was sitting down on a bench reading a book on feelings and how to understand them since I had nor felt any. I looked up from my book as I heard someone giggling close by. I saw some ninja from school talking to each other while others were holding hands and smiling at each other. I looked around some more and was about to go back to my book when a flash of pink caught my eyes. I looked back once more to see that the flash of pink I had seen was Sakura. She smiled and waved as she walked towards me and sat down on the bench beside me. I looked at her and pulled a smile…or rather a fake smile as Sakura called them since she could see when my smiles were real or not. "Hey hag" she narrowed her eyes slightly but smiled again "hey Sai chan, what's up?" she said cheerfully. I glared at my 'nickname' but put up my emotionless 'mask'as Sakura would put it once more. _

"_I'm just reading" I said as I glanced down at the book in my hands. "Aah.." she replied and looked around at the couples with a small smile. "Sakura.." "Hmm?" _

"_What is anger?" she looked at me with confusion and an arched brow. I gave her my book that was open on the page that said 'anger' but it was blank. "Oh well… how van I explain this.." I looked at her intently awaiting her response. "Well anger is something everybody will feel a couple times and it's kind of a weird feeling too… its hard to explain correctly but you feel as though a fire has started inside of you. In some cases, it makes you do or say things without thinking and sometimes it comes out as the worst thing ever, like killing somebody mercilessly. There are other things and 'side effects' to it but that's basically it." she said smiling at me. I nodded my thanks as she continued to skim through my book until she stopped at another page. "Love is blank too Sai…should I-" _

"_Iie, that one's not important to me" I cut in. "oh…ok" she said slowly as she handed me the book._

_**End Flashback**_

'Anger..' I looked down at Sakura with balled fists. 'I'm angry..but why?…I can't be angry with Sakura, she didn't do anything…I'm angry at…myself' I leaned back against a wall and looked up at the ceiling. I looked once more at Sakura 'I'm mad at myself, for not being there' I slumped down against the wall to a sitting position and put my head in my hands as I sighed. "Worried Sai?" I quickly looked up to be met with a crouching Kakashi on the window sill. I looked away from him as I remained silent at his question.

Kakashi sighed, "You know Sai, it's not your fault.." said Kakashi as if he read his mind. I looked down and closed my eyes tightly. "According to Sasuke-" "He did nothing to help her." I cut him off.

"There wasn't anything he could do Sai" "Do you really think that?! Do you really believe there was nothing he could do!?" "Nobody could do anything Sai, no matter who it was." "Bullshit Kakashi! You **know **that somebody could've done something! _I_ could've done something to help her if I hadn't listened to Tsunade!"

"I already told you, It's not your fault Sai," Kakashi said with seriousness in his voice. "Maybe it's not my fault, but I'm angry because I could have done something if it wasn't for Tsunade! And that bastard Uchiha didn't do anything to help her!" I shouted unable to control myself any longer. "Sai, calm down, you-"

"No, I wont'! How can I calm down when Sakura is in a hospital bed fighting for her **life**!" "Sai we're in a hospital, you **need** to calm down." Kakashi repeated. "You want me to calm down and act like nothings wrong?! You **know that** I-" "Sai **ENOUGH**" SAID Kakashi sternly, cutting me off. I saw the serious look he had and I looked down panting. Kakashi took a few steps towards me and sighed. "C'mon Sai, you need to get some fresh air.." I looked at Sakura for a moment and followed Kakashi. He opened the door and walked out first. Before I left I took one more glance at the rosette lying on the bed 'Sakura..gomen' I thought as I left and closed the door behind me.

_**Sasauke PoV**_

I sighed as I looked outside the window only to see Naruto entering the building. 'Great.. The dobes here again…I wonder what he wants now.' Then I heard a soft knock on the door and turned around to see a nurse come in. "Hello Uchiha san" she said kindly. "hn" She went up to my bed and grabbed the clipboard, checking boxes and writing down some things as she skimmed through it. "Well, it says here you may leave the hospital today at anytime Uchiha sa-" "Hey teme!! I heard you're finally out! Let's go to Ichiraku's to celebrate!" Naruto cut in bursting through the door as I narrowed my eyes at him. "Umm, well you just have to pick up your things and you may leave Uchiha san" said the nurse while turning around and walking out of the door. "Let's go teme!! My guts askin' for some ramen so hurry up!" 'I bet my fist can show you what your gut's asking for' I thought as I glared at him and got my things so I could leave the hospital asap.

_--xoxo--_

_-xoxo- _

_--xoxo--_

"hey Sasuke look, there's Sai and Kakashi sensei!" said the hyperactive blonde pointing to a table they were sitting at. He rushed towards them pulling me along with him. "Hey Kakashi se-" Naruto stopped at mid sentence when he saw their faces and quickly registered that something was wrong. I looked up to see Kakashi sitting across from 'my replacement' staring at him intently. "Hey Sasuke, Naruto" he said lazily. I nodded in acknowledgement and turned to Sai. He was sitting with his hands on the side of his head as he looked down. I cleared my throat since it was too quiet for my comfort **((shocker!! o.o)) **and Kakashi and Sai seemed tense. As soon as I did, Sai looked up and when he saw me, glared daggers at me. I only narrowed my eyes in response wondering what his problem was.

"Kakashi sensei, is everything alright?" asked Naruto who had been surprisingly quiet for a while. "No! Everything is not freaking alright!" snapped Sai at Naruto who was taken aback by his sudden show of emotions…anger to be exact. "Sai… I thought I told you to calm down." said Kakashi sighing. Sai just shut his eyes and looked away. 'Something's really wrong here..' I concluded as I looked to Kakashi, asking for an explanation. He sighed at me and gave me an I'll-tell-you-later look. I nodded as Naruto sat down beside Sai and ordered a beef and pork ramen. I sat down beside Kakashi who was eating miso. Sai and I sat in silence while we waited for the others to finish.

_--xoxo--_

_-xoxo-_

_--xoxo--_

"Dobe, would you stop so we could leave already" I said irritated. Kakashi had finished eating a while ago and we were all waiting for Naruto who was on his fourth bowl of ramen. Naruto narrowed his eyes at me and began to talk with his mouth full "It's not my fault if I-"

"Sai san, Hatake san!!" cut in a chuunin to came running towards us panting. "I've been looking everywhere for you two!" he said. Kakashi and Sai exchanged curious looks. "What is it?" Kakashi asked. "It's miss Haruno san!!" he said quickly. Sai jumped up the quickest and began running full speed, Kakashi following shortly after. Naruto and I exchanged looks and began running after Sai and Kakashi, catching up to them quickly. Sai turned his head in my direction and gave me a death glare. 'I swear, if looks could kill, I'd be rotting 6 feet under by now.' I thought. "You're not suppose to come." he said sharply. I narrowed my eyes at him. "Sakura chan's our friend and we're going you like it or not." replied Naruto. Sai growled at us but continued in silence the rest of the way.

When we arrived at the hospital, we went running as fast as we could towards Sakura's room. On the way there we began to see many nurses running back and forth which seemed to worry Sai, but it seemed only I noticed it. When we made it to Sakura's door we rushed in but I bumped into Sai's back halfway inside the room. I glared at him but it instantly disappeared when I saw the look on his face. He looked towards Sakura's bed towards In utter shock and noticeable pain. I turned to look at Sakura but as sson as I did, I wish I hadn't. My eyes widened a fraction in shock and I felt something sharp go through my chest.

** _ Muahaah!! My first cliffy!!_ _I hope you guys enjoyed the chappie!! I worked rlly hard on it though I didn't think it rlly had a point / kinda like a filler chappie. XD I originally thought to name this chapter flashback bcuz there were so many!! o.o _**_**lolz anyway Im kinda sad and uploading later and later instead of weekly as I normally do bcuz I'm not getting many reviews TT so I'm wondering if my current readers could spread out the word and try to get more ppl to read the fic, Id rlly appreciate it, anyways read and reviwe, onegai!!**_

**_Katsumi-chan_**


	9. Chapter 9

_** Hey pplz!! Me ish back and im also sorry that this took so long. I had it written already about 2 to 3 weeks ago but Ive been very busy with school so I'll be updating a bit later so please be patient with me **_

_**Gratci,**_

_**Bloodygirl : XD no!!**__** I loved that you did that!! It always made me smile and that would just make my day so plz, continue on with the "going crazy" bcuz it makes me feel like ur rlly enjoying the story and even though I dont have much readers, you alone make me want to continue writing for you!!**_

**_Asuka-chan : Lolz Thank you I'd really appreciate it . _**_** yata!! I worked rlly hard on the chap and it was my first cliffy so I was wondering if it was good so arigato gozaimas!! Okie Dokey, I took your advice and put it into this chappie and I think it actually made it better so again, thank you! Lqtm thank you and Lolz i've learned alot from the most amazing writer and beta! (.) **_

_**  
Anywayyyyyy.. on with the story!! (( sorry bout the cliffy XD))**_

_** Recap**_

_When we arrived at the hospital, we went running as fast as we could towards Sakura__'__s room. On the way there we began to see many nurses running back and forth which seemed to worry Sai, but it seemed only I noticed it. When we made it to Sakura__'__s door we rushed in but I bumped into Sai__'__s back halfway inside the room. I glared at him but it instantly disappeared when I saw the look on his face. He looked towards Sakura__'__s bed towards In utter shock and noticeable pain. I turned to look at Sakura but as sson as I did, I wish I hadn__'__t. My eyes widened a fraction in shock and I felt something sharp go through my chest._

_**Curse Marked Love**_

**_Ch 8_**

_**Annoying as Ever..**_

My chest ached and pounded so hard I thought it would explode. Sakura was tossing and turning from side to side and her breathing was ragged. She suddenly opened her mouth as an agonizing yell came out as she wrapped her harms around herself.

I watched in shock as tightened her grip and tears streamed down her face. I placed my hand over my heart and clutched onto my shirt tightly. I felt as though my heart was being twisted, wounded and shattered all at once. I tired to ignore the pain as I clutched my shirt tighter and gritted my teeth but I couldn't.

Suddenly the door burst open and Tsunade ran over to Sakura's bed. She stopped beside her and pried her hands off of her torso. My eyes widened even more if possible as my heart burst into pieces as Tsunade held Sakura's arms above her. Her hands were a deep red along with the normally white sheets.

She growled as she pulled the sheets off and pulled Sakura up to a sitting position.She tried to hols Sakura still to be able to get a good look at what was wrong but she wouldn't stop struggling.

"Sai, Kakashi, I called you here in case I needed help! I need one of you to hold her still!" she yelled at them ignoring that Naruto and I were there.

What happened next was something nobody expected…

I ran over to her bed and sat beside Sakura as I embraced her in a tight hug. I could see everybody around me with shock on their faces from the corner of my eyes as I cradled Sakura in my arms. 'I can't take it any longer..'

I realized how much I hated seeing her in pain and I had to do something about. I closed my eyes as I felt her cold tears on my shoulder. I brushed her hair with my hand and whispered to her in her ear as I hugged her and it felt so… _right._

Tsunade awoke from her state of shock and quickly noticed that Sakura was bleeding through the back of the hospital gown.

She reached over and pulled a kunai out of my holster and cut the gown she was wearing. She growled as she saw some bandages wrapped around Sakura's breasts held together by a fishnet shirt acting as a bra.

She cut them down the middle with her kunai and threw them aside. I let her go and took off my shirt and put it in front of her. I sat down across from her and hugged her tightly to make sure that the shirt didn't fall off, revealing her bare chest.

Tsunade grabbed a wet cloth and wiped the blood from Sakura's back to reveal that her wound from the mission was re opening. She quickly healed but then noticed something she didn't like at all. She scowled as she saw a sort of horizontal writing across her wound.

"Kakashi, get over here." she said sternly as Kakashi nodded and walked over to Sakura's bed.

"I see.." he said quietly. I looked up at him and saw his visible eye full of seriousness and determination. He looked at me and turned towards Sai and Naruto. " You two need to leave." he said as he pulled up his hitai ate reveling his Sharingan.

"But Kakashi sensei!!" protested Naruto. "Now!" Kakashi cut him off sternly. Sai narrowed his eyes as he left along with Naruto.

"What about Uchiha." Tsunade asked glancing down at me. "He needs to be here" he stated simply. Tsunade nodded at his answer but didn't realize what he really meant by that statement.

He bit his thumb as he placed his hand on the floor and kanji appeared across the floor forming into a circle in the middle. Kakashi walked over to me and took Sakura from my arms and placed her in the middle of the circle.

My eyes widened a fraction as I remembered it from the chunin exams when he placed that seal on me to control the curse mark.

'Just how serious is what's happening to her..' I asked myself as he did a couple hand signs and placed his hand over the writing on her back as the kanji moved up her body to where his hand was placed and formed the seal.

A cry escaped her purple lips as she fell on her side.

"Sakura!" I called out as I ran over to her and embraced her, not caring that Kakashi and Tsunade were still there. I knew they were looking me, probably shocked and giving me weird looks but I didn't care.

"Sasuke… I need you to bring her here so I can finish closing the wound" Tsunade said slowly. I held onto Sakura and looked down at her sleeping figure. "Sasuke.." warned Tsunade. I reluctantly and carefully picked up Sakura and placed her on the bed.

Tsunade then put her hand over Sakura's wound as it started to glow of a faint green and she finished healing her.

"She'll be out for a few hours so don't try to wake her." she said as she exited the room. I gave a short nod to her as she left the room and I turned back down to Sakura.

After a few moments of silence Kakashi spoke. "So Sasuke, when are you going to tell her." I looked up at Kakashi with a raised brow.

"Tell her what?" I asked him. He glanced down at Sakura and then turned his gaze back to me once more. "How you really feel about her." he stated plainly as if it was obvious.

"She already knows how I feel." I said as I looked away from him. "You know she doesn't… she needs to know and you have to be the one to tell her." he said.

"I don't have to tell her anything because there's nothing she needs to know." I voiced out strongly, trying to end the conversation.

"Stop lying to yourself Sasuke. Don't tell me you don't feel anything when just moments ago held her, helped her out willingly and just displayed various emotions towards her that _I_ happened to notice." Kakashi replied in a strong father-like tone.

"She's just my teammate and nothing more, I don't need to say anything because I feel nothing more than a responsibility to protect her as my teammate and I feel no affection what-so-ever towards her!" I snapped back irritated.

Kakashi closed his visible eye and sighed, "look Sasuke, I know you're not the type of person to open up, show his feelings to others or even accept them himself… but lying to yourself will just make it harder. I know you feel something for Sakura.."

I grunted as he continued "…and even though she wont show it, I can tell she still feels something for you…even if its dying"

I looked down at the white tile floor "Enough, I don't want to hear it." Kakashi just sighed and opened the door.

"Just remember Sasuke, I've been your sensei for a few years now and I know you very well, which means you can't hide anything from me." he a bit smugly as his eyes creased and he left, closing the door behind him.

I sighed and my eyes softened as I looked back down at Sakura..

"…_and even though she wont show it, I can tell she still feels something for you…even if its dying" _

I tightened my fists as I continued to look down at her 'dying?..' I though as I closed my eyes.

"Sakura… what are you doing to me?.." I whispered to myself as I opened my eyes to be met with half open jade green ones.

"making you feel.." she whispered as her eyes fluttered shut once more.

I stared down at her, shocked at her last statement. 'Making me..feel…' I thought as I placed my hand above my heart and clutched my shirt once again.

_**Sakura PoV**_

I slowly opened my eyes and looked around squinting as my eyes adjusted to the light. I felt some sort of pressure on the bed and looked beside me for my eyes to fall upon the sleeping figure of the last person I thought would be there.

"Sasuke kun?.." I whispered to myself as I stared down at him. He took a deep breath and shifted a bit as he lifted his head up and looked at me lazily… which strongly reminded me of Shikamaru's gaze as I smiled at him and he sat up straight.

"Ohayo Sasuke kun.." I said in a low tone as he fixed his shirt and lightly rubbed his right eye.

"Ohayo.. how are you feeling?.." he asked me calmly. "I..I'm feeling ok" I said and gave a soft smile as I closed my eyes.

"You had me worried.." he said slowly. I raised a pink brow at him 'I had him worried?' Sasuke looked away as he cleared his throat.

" Are you hungry?" he asked as he put up his emotionless mask again. "A little.." I replied as he nodded and pressed a button that read food on it. There was a silent moment in the air before Sasuke decided to break it.

"Sakura.." he said looking down. "nani?.." I asked as he looked around the room for some strange reason until his eyes stopped on me.

"Arigato..Sakura.." he said in almost a whisper.

"_If you leave, I'll scream Sasuke kun!!" I yelled at him as tears ran down my face._

"_You're __**still**__ annoying." he replied as he turned his back on me._

"_Please don't leave me!! I love you with all my heart Sasuke kun!!" I yelled as I clutched my shirt and more tears ran freely from my eyes. _

…

" _Arigato, Sakura.." were his last words as everything turned black_

"_Sa..suke… kun…" _

I stared at him as my heart began to pound against my ribcage.

"For what Sasuke kun?.." I asked him in a whisper. "For saving me on our mission." he replied staring at me intently. I closed my eyes as I let go of a breathe I didn't notice I had been holding.

"Oh that, don't worry about it.. After all, we're teammates and we protect each other, like it's our responsibility or something like that." I said smiling at him, though inside my heart was falling to pieces. Sasuke's eyes widened a hardly noticeable fraction at what he heard..

"_She's just my teammate and nothing more, I don't need to say anything because I feel nothing more than a responsibility to protect her as my teammate and I feel no affection what-so-ever towards her!"_

"Sakura…why did you say that?.." he asked trying to see me as I looked down and my bangs covered my eyes.

"Because it's true, ne Sasuke kun?.." I said softly as I slowly looked up at him with my eyes glazed over. He slowly brought his hand up towards my face,

"Sakura..I.."

"Here's your food Haruno san." said a cheery nurse interrupting Sasuke as she came in. Sasuke pulled away quickly and stood up beside the bed as the nurse placed Sakura's food on the table.

"Oh and Lady Hokage said that when you awoke you could leave as soon as you like" she said smiling as she left. I nodded as she left and ate my food in silence as Sasuke looked outside the window. I saw him glare at something outside but ignored it and finished eating. I finished my breakfast and changed into my regular ninja outfit.

"I'm going home Sasuke kun, are you planning on staying here?.." I asked as I opened the door. He turned back to me and left the room closing the door behind us. We walked in silence until we got out of the hospital and saw Sai coming towards us.

"Sakura! You're alright." said Sai as he embraced me and kissed my cheek. Sasuke glared at the artist nin as he pulled away.

"Where are you headed ugly?" he asked smiling at me. "I was gonna go grocery shopping then home Sai chan" I replied smiling back.

"I'll accompany you," he said as he held his arm out. "Actually, Sasuke kun was.." I stopped as I turned to where Sasuke would be only to see that he was gone.

"leaving?.." asked Sai smiling as I turned back to him. "I guess so.." I replied in a low tone.

"So, does the hag want me to take her home?" asked Sai smiling. "It's alright Sai chan, I'll go by myself, ja!" I said as I walked off waving at him.

_**Sasuke PoV**_

I closed the door behind me and looked around as I sighed quietly. 'Looks like I'm going home..' I thought as I went to the kitchen and got some water when I noticed that Sakura's phone had 3 messages. I walked over and grabbed it and drank some water as I held it to my ear,

_You have __**3**__ messages_

_Message number__1.._

_Hello Sakura chan!! I called you on this youthful day to see if you are feeling alright after that youthful mission you went on with Naruto and Sasuke san!! _

_Please call me back soon Sakura chan!!_

Said Lee's voice over the phone as I rolled my eyes and kept listening…

_Message number 2.._

_Sakura chan!!…………………… ………………SAKURA CHAAAAAANN!!………………_

……_hm I guess you're not home yet. Anyways I was calling to see if you'd wanna come with me and the Teme to Ichitaku's on Wednesday to celebrate our completed mission!! Ja ne!_

I grunted as I heard Naruto's hyperactive voice as I walked back to the kitchen to put the glass back 'hn.. dobe...'

_Message number 3..._

"_Hey Saku chan.. Or Sasuke , I'm sorry that we aren't home yet but we have to stay here at Tea Country because of our business trip, so we've decided we're going to stay and live here. Dakara, you'll have the house to yourself… like you wanted…" _said her mom almost whispering. _"…Soredemo, I've called Mikoto chan and we agreed that fom now on Sasuke will be living with you. Have fun and behave! Sayonara.." _she said ending the message.

I pulled the phone away from my ear and stared at it in my hand and stared at it as though it was an unknown thing to me. I put it slowly down on the table, my eyes never leaving it, as my brain processed the information. I snapped out of my daze as I left to get the rest iof my things in the Uchiha district.

_**Sakura PoV**_

I sighed as I spotted the house coming into view. I was happy to be home since my stroll around Konoha had been somewhat tiring. I opened the door and saw Sasuke sitting in the living room eating a slice of tomato.

I closed the door and put down the grocery bags as I began to walk towards him raising a brow at him. He looked up at me for a moment but kept eating his tomato.

"What are you still doing here Sasuke kun?.." I asked him. 'He should be gone by now.. The week he was supposed to stay ended already.'

"Aah, you're mom left a message on the phone. She's staying to live in the Land of Tea with your dad and she said that from now on I'll be living here with you." he said nonchalantly as I froze in place at what he had said. After a few seconds I regained my composure and stared at him in disbelief.

"Sakura?.." he called out to me. "Oi, Sakura.." he said again, his voice stronger this time as he tried to bring me out of my daze.

"_Tch_, still annoying as ever.." he said as he got up and left towards his room, unaware that the last statement had abruptly brought me out of daze. I looked up at his retreating figure.

'Annoying..' I thought as my eyes shifted to the floor. 'like always..' I slowly walked up the stairs to my room to get some sleep for school tomorrow.

_--xoxo--_

_-xoxo-_

_--xoxo--_

My eyes slowly fluttered open as I glanced at my clock. '6:32.…time to get up for school Sakura..' I told myself as I got up and headed towards the shower. I got dressed in my usual outfit as I hummed to myself in a low tone. I brushed my hair and made my way downstairs for some breakfast as my eyes landed on the stoic Uchiha.

"Ohayo, Sasuke kun.." I said as I pulled out some bread and out it in the toaster. Sasuke 'hned' in response and watched as Sakura only took out two pieces of bread.

I took out the butter along with a cup of orange juice. When the bread finished, I spread the butter onto it and began to eat as I saw Sasuke arch a brow at me.

'I thought she'd make me some like she usually would.' he thought but still keeping is emotionless mask.

I gave him a questioning glance but quickly shrugged it off as I finished my breakfast. I finished eating and went back to room.

I attached the kunai holster along with the shuriken pouch to my leg and waist and adjusted my headband before leaving to school without asking Sasuke to accompany me.

_**Sasuke PoV**_

I looked over to Sakura only to see her giggle as Neji gave a small smile beside her.

"You know, after you left, Neji and Sakura became really close. He would always help her train and take her to eat with him when they saw each other."

I looked to my left to see that Shikamaru had been the one talking to me.

"Why are you telling me this?" I asked giving him a somewhat questioning look. He sighed as he closed his eyes,

"Because, you've been looking over to them for the past 10 minutes while Kakashi called your name for the attendance." he said lazily.

I grunted as I turned back to face the front of the room. I sighed as I reluctantly looked at the empty seat at my right where Sakura would usually sit. I shook my head a little to rid myself of the thoughts,

'We're just teammates.. Nothing more…right?' I asked myself as I glanced at her once more.

_--xoxox--_

_-xoxox- _

_--xoxox--_

I sighed in relief as I felt the burst of chakra indicating class was over. I rolled up my scroll as I headed towards my locker. I looked up as I made it to my locker and saw Sakura getting out her medical scrolls beside me.

"Teme!! Hey Temeeeee!!" I turned around and looked to the direction in which the screams were coming from to see Naruto.

"Hey Sasuke teme, wanna go spar after class?" asked the blonde excitedly.

"Hn, I'd love to see you lose again dobe" I replied smirking as I turned back to my locker for my scrolls.

"Oh, hey Sakura chan, you can come too if you want." offered Naruto grinning.

"Iie Naruto, I'd only get in the way… and be annoying you guys." she said the last part quietly, barely above a whisper.

I froze at her last statement as Naruto gave her a confuzed look.

"_Tch, still annoying as ever.." I said as I got up and left towards my room._

"Ne, Sakura chan, where did that come from?… You know you would never annoy me, more like the other way around, I love it when you're around." Sakura gave him a small smile in return.

"Arigato Naruto..demo.." she gave me a quick glance from the corner of her eyes then back at Naruto, which I noticed in time…as did the dobe.

Naruto narrowed his eyes slightly, "Don't worry Sakura, the teme -"

"I gotta get to class, I'll see you around Naruto!!" said Sakura as she took off running.

Naruto gave a low growl as he turned and looked at me dead serious, "You know Sasuke, Sakura chan's not annoying-"

"She is very well far from it." cut in Neji as he walked by and gave me a small glare. I ignored him as I walked off with Naruto in an akward silence as he stared down at the floor with his eyes narrowed slightly.

_--xoxox--_

_-xoxox-_

_--xoxox-- _

I sighed as I opened the door and let the steam out. I had just finished taking a shower after my sparring session with the dobe. I walked into my room and got dressed in my usual attire.

I opened the top drawer of the navy blue dresser and grabbed the last clean shirt but before I closed it again, a red piece of cloth caught my attention.

I put down the shirt and grabbed the cloth as stared at it for a few moments. I walked over and sat on my futon as I put down the piece of cloth and unfolded it to find my old navy blue headband.

As I slowly picked it up, it too became undone and a folded piece of paper fell out of it. I grabbed it and slowly opened it up, revealing a photo of us in our genin days but it was a bit damaged.

I passed my fingers over it as I felt some rough surfaces on the photo, mostly on the side where I was.. 'she was crying..'

I looked at it for a while as a small smile appeared on my lips. 'We were all so happy.. though I didn't show it much…I was happy too..' I closed my eyes and gave a deep sigh,

"What did I do?.." I asked myself as I kept staring at the photo. "I didn't have to leave.."

"…No, you didn't… you could've stayed.." I looked up to find Sakura standing at my doorway.

I looked down at the picture again as Sakura walked towards me. She stopped beside me and picked up the headband along with the piece of red cloth.

"Gomen..I guess I forgot to take this out before you came." she said as she carefully took the picture from my hands.

"Iie, it's alright.." I said as she gave a short nod.

"I should leave, I'm sure you'd want to be alone right now.." she said as she began to walk off. I watched as she slowly walked away and almost made it to the doorway.

"Sakura.." I called out as I got up and slowly walked towards her.

"N..nani..?" she asked turning a little, just enough for her to see me over her shoulder. I quickly appeared in front of her and took her chin in between my fingers and made her softly look at me.

"You're not annoying Sakura.." I said as I softly put my arms around her in a hug and closed my eyes. "…you're the farthest thing from it.."

_**Sakura PoV**_

My eyes widened slightly as I felt Sasuke hug me. I stood in his arms for a moment, doing nothing but staring into space in shock. I felt his arms wrap a little tighter around me as he placed his chin on my shoulder and awoke me from my daze.

I slowly wrapped my arms around him and waited a moment for dome type of sign or movement, anything that told me I wasn't supposed to hug him. I was expecting for him to push me away like he normally would although he was the one to hug me….but it never came.

I finally gave in completely as I tightened my grip a little and closed my eyes as I leaned my head against his chest. We stayed that way, embracing each other for a few moments until I heard a loud knock on the door.

I pulled away from Sasuke and looked over at the door wondering who it was. Another loud knock brought me out of my thoughts and I began to walk over to the door.

"I'm coming.." I said as I reached the door and slowly opened it to reveal a chunin standing at the door looking quite tired.

"Haruno san!! I'm glad you're here! I've been searching everywhere for you and Sasuke san." He said hurriedly.

"What is it?" I asked him a bit worried as Sasuke stood behind me, gazing at the chunin.

"The Uchiha clan, they've all been murdered!!"

_**MUahahaha!! cough cough ahem.. sorry about that lolz... its just i think Ive been in an extremely evil mood lately since I made 2 cliffy's straight so sorry about that lolz. I was actually thinking of ending this chap where Sasuke said "You're the farthest thing from it" but when I was typing It, I couldnt resist and I added the beggining of the 9th chapter lolz... . . IT WAS TEMPTING ME!! IM SO SO SORRY!! PLZ FORGIVE ME!!**_..._**anyways, read and review and plz give some feedback onegai, until next time, Ja!! . **_

_**Katsumi chan**_


	10. Chapter 10

_***speaks shyly* Hiiii peoples ^^" How you been? heh heh.. sorry about being so late, scratch that - so extremely late- there thats better ^^ I had moved and then I lost my notebook that had the story in it o.o" but everythings okay now..I hope.. well Im sorry for being so late and leaving you with a cliffy ""**_

**_Arigato Gozaimas!!!_**

**_Bloodygirl:::::: xD lolz! it seems you enjoyed the last chapter blood ^^ lolz Im glad you liked it. Well it's Sasuke here, you can't really expect much out of him but Im trying to get him to open up little by little and I'm sorry but I dont think the truth will happen just yet ^^ there are still some things Im writing about that I want to finish, and lolz dont worry about the rant, I enjoyed it and thanx for being such a loyal reader_**

**_Gothic-Dei-Fan11:::::::: lmao you've lost it you know that? yosh!! =o no more type-o's I ish trying on that very hard. Lolz you know you luuuuuv meh cliffies....I think o.o..i dunt know anymore!! but now I shall be more evil to you!!! e.e_**

**_Disclaimer- I do not own Naruto in any color, shape, form, or figment of my imagination. All credit goes to Masashi Kishimoto sensei...darn you Kishimoto sensei!!!_**

_**Anywayyyys... ON WITH THE STORY!!!! (sorry once more ^^"")**_

_**Recap**_

_I finally gave in completely as I tightened my grip a little and closed my eyes as I leaned my head against his chest. We stayed that way, embracing each other for a few moments until I heard a loud knock on the door._

_I pulled away from Sasuke and looked over at the door wondering who it was. Another loud knock brought me out of my thoughts and I began to walk over to the door._

"_I__'__m coming..__"__ I said as I reached the door and slowly opened it to reveal a chunin standing at the door looking quite tired. _

"_Haruno san!! I__'__m glad you__'__re here! I__'__ve been searching everywhere for you and Sasuke san.__"__ He said hurriedly._

"_What is it?__"__ I asked him a bit worried as Sasuke stood behind me, gazing at the chunin. _

"_The Uchiha clan, they__'__ve all been murdered!!__"_

_**Curse Marked Love**_

**_Ch 8_**

**_A New Mission!!_**

My eyes widened at the last words that the chunin had said as I stood behin Sakura, staring into nothing as my mind replayed it.

"_The Uchiha clan, they've all been murdered!"_

"…_they've been murdered!"_

"…_murdered!"_

"Sa.. Sasuke kun I'm-" I ran past Sakura at full speed and exited the house. I heard her call my name but I continued to run. 'They can't be… I have to see them..' I told myself over and over, trying to convince my mind that it was just a lie, some sort of cruel joke Tsunade decided to play on me for payback for leaving the village those 6 years ago.

"Sasuke kun!" I heard Sakura call out once more but I ran and pushed myself even harder when I entered the Uchiha District. My eyes narrowed as I ran down the blood covered streets decorated with lifeless bodies of members of the Uchiha clan.

I finally reached my house and stopped in front of the gate. For a while I just stood there and stared at the blood coverd shoji screen and windows that had been tainted with the crimson liquid from the inside.

I felt a chakra stop a few feet behind me and instantly recognized it as Sakura's chakra but she just stood there for a while without doing anything. I began to take steps forward as I felt my hard pounding harder. I could feel every pound in my chest and hear them as if they were holding my heart to my ear.

"Sasuke kun… we shouldn't…this could-" I looked back at Sakura from the corner of my eye as I stopped right in front of the shoji screen, my hand placed on the wood covered edge for me to slide it open.

"Sasuke kun…Onegai.." she pleaded as she walked towards me and placed her hand on my shoulder.

"I have to." I responded as I slid open the screen that would confirm those horrid thoughts I tried to convince myself as lies, Sakura reluctantly following me in. My eyes widened as soon as I entered as I saw Sakura tense right beside me.

The room had spattered blood in every inch along with several kunai and shuriken lodged into the floors and walls. I stared at everything until my eyes drifted to my father's lifeless figure, laying on the floor with several kunai in his chest and a hole in his back.

My eyes kept wandering until they reached my mother who was several feet away from Fugaku. Her hair was completely cut off on one side and under her head was a pool of blood.

"Mikoto.." I heard Sakura whisper beside me as I continued to look around until reaching the corner of the room. Against that corner in a lifeless sitting position was Itachi, a deep gash on the side of his abdomen, blood still slowly seeping out as if there was only so little left inside his body.

There was a trickle of blood from the side of his head along with blood coming from his eyes. I clenched my fists as I shut my eyes tightly and grit my teeth.

"Sasuke kun.." I snapped my head towards Sakura and glared at her intensely though I didn't mean to.

"We should get out of here Sasuke kun.." she said as she gave me a concerned look. "I'm not going anywhere." I replied through grit teeth.

"But Sasuke kun, we have to-" "I _said _I'm. Not. Going. Anywhere." I cut her off abrasively as I glared at her once more. She held her hands to her chest as she looked down.

_**You, you got me, thinking it'll be alright…**_

_**You, you told me, come and take a look inside…**_

"Everything's gonna be alright… I understand Sasuke kun, I know how you feel but-" "No you don't. _Nobody_ knows how I feel right now Sakura."

"But Sasuke kun-"

"No buts Sakura! You wouldn't know what its like even if you wanted to!" I snapped at her. Her eyes widened as she took a small step forward and her grip on my shoulder tightened. "Sasuke.."

I pushed her hand off my shoulder "Go home Sakura." I told her in a cold tone as I roughly pushed past her and ran out.

_**You, believe me, every single lie..**_

_**But I, I failed you this time..**_

I ran past several houses and shops and pushed through everyone and everything as I made my way to her office.

"Uchiha sa-"

"Shut up." I cut in as I glared and pushed past a jonin. I slammed the door open and stopped right in front of her desk.

"What is it no-" she stopped her complaining as she spun around in her chair and saw me standing before her.

"Sasuke, what-" "Who did it." I asked her in a demanding voice. She sighed as she closed her auburn eyes and placed her chin over her folded hands.

"I have reason to believe it was the Akatsuki." Tsunade replied slowly as she stared at me intently.

"Why." I asked her as I clenched my fists at my side. "Look Sasuke, you're not-" "Why." I demanded once more. She sighed as she put her hands down

"They were after the sharingan. They originally offered Itachi to join to use the sharingan to help them in the quest for the nine bijuu. He refused to join them so they attacked him. As you already may have figured out, he couldn't do very much to defeat them or hold them off long enough for backup to arrive."

I narrowed my eyes at her and turned around as I made my way out. "Where do you think you're going." she demanded from behind her desk but I continued to walk out.

"Sasuke!! If you even _think_ about going after them without it being an order, I will go after you **myself** and be sure to give you a hard and cruel punishment along with putting you in solitary confinement for a few months and stripping you of your ninja title."

I stopped walking and glared at her from behind my shoulder.

_Meanwhile…_

" Has it begun…" came a voice from the corner of the room. Zetsu nodded.

"It is in process and phase one is almost complete."

"Good… then begin phase two as quickly as possible. And make sure to stay hidden, do not let them see you."

"Alright… I'll do my best." said Zetsu as he left the room. Pein then turned to the injured ninja in the corner of the room.

"I see that the woman got close enough to wound you." He closed his eyes as he scowled softly and ignored the akatsuki leaders words.

"Were you able to at least complete the purpose of the mission." demanded the orange haired ninja as the Iwa nin nodded.

"Good..now out." Pein watched the young ninja leave out the door then closed his eyes as a wicked grin took over his lips.

"This plan will be successful now that I have found _her.._ I _will_ have that secret now, no matter what."

_**--xoxo--**_

_**-xoxo-**_

_**--xoxo--**_

_**Sasuke PoV**_

I closed the door silently behind me and took off my shoes. I walked to the fridge and grabbed a tomato as I sat down on the couch. I looked around the room as my mind made some calculations.

'No dinner…' I looked to the table beside and in front of me, 'No scrolls…' I looked over to the door once more, 'No shoes… she's not here yet. Where could she have gone.. I told her to come here before I left.'

Right at that moment I heard a soft click and my gaze shifted upwards as I saw the door open. "…stay over Sakura chan." said Naruto as he came in with a bag in his hand with Sakura following closely behind.

"Dobe.." I greeted him as he came in and set his bag down on the floor near the door. He looked up at me, gave me a cold, lifeless stare and ignored me. I raised a brow at him 'what the..?'

"I'll take these up for you Naruto. You already know which room is yours, ne?" asked Sakura as she bent down and grabbed his black bag. "Of course Sakura chan, I've stayed here plenty of times." he replied grinning as she smiled and went upstairs.

"What are you doing here dobe?" I asked as he sat down on the couch next to me. "I forgot to pay the rent and got kicked out, so Sakura chan took me in..again…" he replied as he smiles sheepishly and rubbed the back of his head.

' Again?..' I thought as I raised a brow at him. "Plus, I found her at the our old training grounds and she looked kind of upset."

" About what?" I asked quickly…apparently a little too quickly since the dobe gave me a questioning look.

"Someone told her something about not understanding what it's like to lose her parents." he replied as he narrowed his eyes until they reached an all-knowing glare.

I narrowed my eyes slightly as I pressed him on "And why would she be upset about something like that?" Naruto intensified his glare towards me and took a quick glance at the stairs.

"They were in a three man squad and Sakura was an anbu at the time and-" "Anbu?.." I cut in.

"Yeah, after that mission we withdrew from the anbu.. Decided we weren't ready for it yet.." 'we?..' I asked myself but decided to let him continue.

"…anyway, she was the anbu assigned to that mission to move her parents to Sunagakure and they were disguised as jonin." he explained as something in my mind sparked.

"Wait, what did Sakura's uniform look like?" Naruto sighed as he looked up at the stairs again

" Her uniform was different, unique and made especially for her fighting style just like Neji's. Her uniform had five things that made it different, she had a short, skintight navy blue jumpsuit that came mid thigh, over it she wore the white vest but it was in the same style as her jumpsuit. It was white, skintight and short and it tied on the front from top to bottom.." I continued to stare at Naruto as everything in my mind connected.

".. she had long white boots up to her knee and navy blue gloves up to her elbows along with her mask. Her and Neji's anbu uniform were the only ones that were specially made to give them an advantage because their fighting styles were so different from the rest. We were all on the same team.. We were the only squad that Tsunade allowed to be made up of anbu captains because we worked so well together and complimented each other's strength and strengthened the other's weakness.."

_**Flashback**_

"_Sasuke kun.. I can sense three chakra coming ahead."_

"_How close are they." I asked her as we stopped on a branch._

"_Wait.." Karin whispered to me ".. 3,2,1.." I looked down as I saw two jonin and an anbu stop in the field below us. 'leaf..' I thought to myself as I recognized the colors and mask though the uniform was different._

"_I know you're up there.. So come on out." she stated. I narrowed my eyes and jumped down to a lower branch as Karin and Juugo jumped down in front of her. _

_I sat against the trunk of the tree with one of my legs dangling in the air and the other bent up. 'guess I'll just enjoy the show..' _

"_New uniform eh? Like that'll do you any good.." said Juugo as Karin took out two kunai and threw them at the anbu. She pulled out a kunai and deflectd them with her own as she turned to the jonin. _

"_Go!!" she yelled out as she ducked down and swept her legs under Juugo's. Karin ran at the jonin and pulled her fist back, suddenly the anbu appeared before the jonin and blocked Karin's fist with her own but surprisingly, Karin was thrown back. _

_I narrowed my eyes slightly and took a little more interest in the anbu. _

"_You now the mission, I can handle this so go!!" she yelled out again as she threw two explosive kunai at Juugo and jumped away from him. Karin came from behind and landed a kick at her side as the anbu let out a soft grunt. _

"_Go dammit!!" she yelled again as she blocked a kunai from Juugo and grabbed Karin's fist in her hand. "But Sa-" _

"_**Shut up**__!! Just __**go**__ will you!!" she yelled out as she punched Karin into a tree and knocked her out. _

"_Suigetsu.." I said above a whisper as he appeared next to me on the branch. "Finish the jonin.." _

_The anbu dodged a kick from Juugo and pulled a kunai out of nowhere and plunge it into his right arm as Juugo grunted. I saw Suigetsu appear behind the jonin, pull out Zabuza's sword and kill them without mercy or giving it a second thought. _

_The anbu turned around and froze as she saw the two jonin fallen with Suigetsu standing above them with a bloody sword hanging loosely in his hand. "No.." she whispered aloud. _

_Juugo smirked as he watched her. "Some ninja you are, aren't shin obi never to show emotion? Especially an anbu from the leaf…" said Suigetsu smirking. "Guess I'll finish this.." said Juugo as a kunai rapidly flew past him and cut his cheek as he barely managed to doge it. _

"_Get away from her!!" yelled out an anbu that appeared before Juugo with blonde hair. I inwardly frowned as I realized who it was behind the mask. 'The dobe's and anbu..' _

"_Don't come any closer.." said another voice from beside the female anbu. I turned my gaze toward the source of the voice to see another male anbu with a different uniform that resembled the kunoichi beside him. _

_I glared at him though he couldn't see me when I saw the design of the Byakugan on his mask. 'Hyuuga Neji…Uzumaki Naruto… who's the kunoichi though… no matter, I'll figure it out sooner or later..'_

_I got up and let out a burst of chakra to signal our leave. The last thing I saw before I disappeared was the Hyuuga activating his Byakugan, Naruto's eyes widening and the female anbu look toward my direction._

_**End Flashback**_

I stared down at the floor as Naruto kept glaring at me. "You killed them.." he spat at me, his voice full of venom.

"I didn't kill them." I replied to him in a low tone. Naruto narrowed his eyes further and gave me the deadliest glare he could muster.

"Maybe, but you let it happen and probably ordered it too 'cause as far as I know, you were the leader of .." Naruto stopped mid sentence and snapped his head towards the stairs.

"Sakura chan.."

_**Naruto PoV**_

I snapped my head towards the direction of the stairs as I heard a slight noise. I knew it was her and I didn't need any stupid byakugan or sharingan to figure that out.

"Sakura chan.." I whispered aloud as Sasuke whipped his head toward the stairs as he heard me pronounce her name. I quickly ran up the stairs and into Sakura's room to find her sitting on her bed looking down at the floor with her bangs slightly shielding her face from view.

"Sakura chan.." I slowly sat beside her and lightly pulled her towards my chest. " I'm sorry Sakura chan.. I shouldn't have even mentioned it.." I whispered to her as I stroked her hair softly.

" It's ok Naruto.." she said as closed her eyes and buried he face into my chest. I sat in silence, comforting and soothing her as her breath began to draw out evenly. Soon enough, I felt her go slightly limp in my arms, indicating that she was asleep.

I carefully moved into a better, more comfortable position on her bed and laid her head on my chest.

I looked out to the window and watched the snow fall silently, carefully, delicately, gracefully, and _pure_… '_just like Sakura chan' _I thought to myself as I looked down at her and smiled softly.

I soon got caught up in the purity of the snow and drifted to sleep along with Sakura, not realizing I had left the door open and a silent Uchiha standing outside the door watching as we both slept peacefully.

Sasuke narrowed his eyes unintentionally as he reached the door to Sakura's room to find her asleep in the dobe's arms. Over the years of his absence they had gotten very close, he noted.

He softened his gaze at his two ex-teammates and then let his gaze linger on the pink haired medic. _'You lost so much time with them, with her.' _

He closed his eyes and left for his room, _'But you'll recover the time you lost when you were away from her and make everything even better than it used to be.' _

He noticed how this time his mind had said _her _and not _them _he shook his head lightly and closed the door behind him.

_**--xoxo--**_

_**-xoxo-**_

_**--xoxo--**_

"_Goooood morning Konoha! Today__'__s Monday, a white winter day so-__"_I sighed as I hit the snooze and mumbled incoherent thoughts aloud before lying back down and pulling the source of warmth closer to me chest. _'……warmth?'_

I quickly snapped open my eyes to find myself sleeping against Sakura. I smiled at how peaceful she looked and hated myself for what I was doing next.

"Sakura…psssssst Sakura chan, wake up…we have to go to the academy.." I whispered to the dormant kunoichi. Her eyes slowly fluttered open and she smiled at me with half lidded eyes.

"Ohayo Naruto.." she whispered as she yawned lightly, I smiled softly at her ruffled pink locks and disheveled appearance.

"Ohayo Sakura chan.." I replied as my eyes drifted past the open room door but quickly looked back to see Sasuke, looking at us from the middle of the hallway.

I saw his eyes narrow slightly before he turned back and left and I vaguely wondered why he had narrowed his eyes at us. Then my mind finally registered why as it fully woke and took into consideration the position Sakura and I where in.

_1) I was sleeping with Sakura chan in her bed._

_2) She was lying on my chest while I was wearing nothing but pants that reached my ankles._

I closed my eyes and gave an exasperated sigh as Sakura got up in a sitting position beside me. "Nani?..Is something wrong Naruto?.." She asked as she observed me in a perspective manner. "Iie Sakura chan, nande mo nai.."

_**--xoxo--**_

_**-xoxo-**_

_**--xoxo--**_

I grinned and quickly rose to me feet as I felt the pulsation of chakra. I reached my locker in a short period of time and released some chakra into the lock as it opened and I threw in it all of my scrolls.

"Hello Naruto." I slammed the door shut to see Neji opening the locker beside mine with his byakugan. "Hey Neji! Ready to go to the courtyard for some training?" I asked as I drew out an excited grin. He nodded as he closed his locker and deactivated his byakugan.

_**-..::*::..-**_

_**-..""*""..-**_

"I wonder…where… Sakura chan is.." I said as I was dodging Neji's palms. I jumped back and threw a couple of shuriken as he deflected them with his kunai.

"She's with Sai." said Neji as he sped forward and landed his gentle fist to my shoulder. I winced as I stumbled back a little and aimed a punch a punch at him.

"That emotionless jerk?! Why would she be with him?" I landed a punch to his stomach as he turned to wood. 'Damn..'

"They've been dating." Neji replied calmly as he appeared behind me and blocked a chakra point in my arm. I grunted in my throat as I felt the chakra being cut off from my arm. "She's ending it right now." he said as he lunged at me again.

I made an 'o' shape with my mouth and let my guard without noticing as Neji's gentle fist connected with my stomach. I doubled over to gasp for air, when I finally caught my breath I looked up at Neji and smiled.

"Alright, you win today." He smirked slightly as he held out his hand and pulled me up. After a few minutes of resting against the tree, I heard some footsteps along with Neji's voice.

"Uchiha" he said as I opened my eyes. "Hyuuga" replied the young Uchiha prodigy as I grinned at their antics. 'Hey! Maybe I should join in, this could be fun..'

"Dobe.." greeted Sasuke as he stopped beside Neji. "Teme" I mimicked as he rose a brow at me and gave me a suspicious look as I saw Sakura approach us.

"Sakura chan!" I greeted smiling broadly at her. The teme nodded in acknowledgement as Neji smiled faintly. The emerald eyed girl smiled as she stood beside me and I noticed Neji give her a somewhat questioning glance.

She nodded slowly and looked down for a moment but the pearl eyes man gave her a reassuring glance and she smiled softly. I cleared my throat as I saw Sasuke switch his gaze between the two of them.

"So I was talking to grandma Tsunade-" "Oh that reminds me!" Cut in Sakura as I let out a soft sigh. "Sorry Naruto, but we've got a mission, all of us."

_**Sakura PoV**_

I sighed as I closed the door and dropped the keys on the small corner table. "Sakura chan! Where'd you put my clean boxers!?" I turned around to see Naruto wearing nothing but a skimpy towel that barely made it to is knees with the ends of his hair dripping water onto the floor and waving around clothes in his hand.

I smiled lightly and stifled a giggle. "They're on my bed Naruto. Your pile has the orange and yellow on top and Sasuke's are the blue and black, so don't get them mixed up." Sasuke turned to face me from where he sat on the couch, holding the onigiri in front of his slightly open mouth and Naruto gave me a worried yet inquisitive glance.

"What?" I asked as I rose a pink brow at them. "Sakura chan.. Why do you have mine and the teme's boxers in your room?" inquired the blonde worriedly. I narrowed my eyes slightly as I saw Naruto tense under my gaze.

"You idiot!! I was separating them before giving them to you when I was doing the laundry!!" Sasuke closed his eyes as he turned back to whatever it was he was doing and continued to eat his onigiri.

My gaze turned to Naruto who rubbed the back of his head and gave a sheepish grin before darting up the stairs. I pulled out a small pan after I had walked into the kitchen and gave it a quick rinse as I felt Sasuke's stare linger on my back.

I tried to ignore it as I set the pan down and took some fish from the fridge. I sighed softly as I set down the fish and turned to face Sasuke. "What?!" I snapped as I placed my hands on my hips.

He calmly bit his onigiri as if I hadn't said anything and continued to gaze at me. I narrowed my eyes slightly as I opened my mouth to speak again.

"We're eating out today." he cut in before I could snap at him again. I relaxed a little as I put my hands down and gave Sasuke an inquisitive look. "how come?" The raven haired boy continued to eat as he stared at me and closed the book on his lap.

"Ask the dobe." As if he was on cue, Naruto came rushing down the stairs and stood behind the couch Sasuke was seated on. "Let's go Sakura chan! Time to eat!!"

"Naruto, where are we going?" I asked as I walked into the living room. "I invited Hinata chan and Kiba to Ichiraku's to eat dinner with us you know, catch up before the mission?" he said as he gave his fox like grin.

"Why didn't you invite Neji?" she asked softly as I noticed Sasuke narrow his eyes slightly. "I tried to, but he said he wanted to get ready for our mission." I nodded in understanding as he put up his fox like grin.

"C'mon c'mon!! Let's go eat already!!" I sighed in defeat as the kyuubi boy pulled me off the couch and out the door along with the raven haired Uchiha.

_**--xoxo--**_

_**-xoxo-**_

_**--xoxo--**_

"H-Hello Naruto kun.." greeted Hinata shyly with a smile on her face. "Hey Hinata chan!!" said Naruto as he approached her smiling.

"Where's Kiba Hinata chan?" said Naruto as he peeked over her shoulder. Hinata blushed as Naruto grabbed onto her shoulders as he looked for Kiba behind her.

"K..Kiba is inside, saving us someplace to sit.." replied the Hyuuga heiress as she stuttered.

"Oh okay then" replied Naruto as he let go and grinned at her. The midnight haired girl shifted on her feet as she put her curled up hand in front of her mouth shyly. "I..I'm glad you were able to come Naruto kun."

"Thanks Hinata!" Sasuke rolled his eyes lightly as he scoffed softly beside me. "dobe.." I smiled faintly as he watched the enthusiastic blonde run inside Ichiraku's dragging along a very flushed Hinata.

"What is it Sasuke?" I asked as I tugged softly on his sleeve. "The dobe's an idiot." I couldn't help but giggle slightly as Sasuke smirked. "You mean about Hinata right?"

"Hn." he gave a short nod. "Well it _is_ Naruto we're talking about here." Sasuke smirked faintly once more as we entered and sat on one end of the table.

"I already told you Naruto!! There's no **way** you can eat more ramen that me!" said Kiba as he downed a bowl of ramen in one rapid and breathless gulp.

"Oh yeah?! We'll see about that, dattebayo!" shouted the blonde as he slurped the soup from the ramen. I sighed as I turned to the somewhat elder man that would always make our ramen.

"One miso please." he nodded kindly at me as he turned to Sasuke. "And you?"

"Pork" he said plainly as he closed his eyes.

I heard Hinata giggle and turned to see her staring at Naruto who was downing another bowl of ramen.

"Sasuke?" he opened his eyes as he turned to face me. "Do you want to go out for a walk?" I whispered softly to make sure the others didn't hear us.

"Why? Aren't we eating?" he asked me curiously. "We can get something to go or I could make you something when we get home."

I hinted over to Naruto who was smiling at Hinata. Sasuke glanced over at them before he rose from his seat and let me out after him.

"Eh? Where are you guys going?" muttered the blonde with a mouthful of ramen. "Sasuke and I are gonna get some ninja tools ready for the mission tomorrow."

I lied convincingly…or tried to better said since I noted Kiba's grinning features from behind his ramen bowl. The brown haired boy rose from his seat and made his way towards the exit.

"The Hokage said she wanted to tell me something later, cya guys tomorrow." he stated as he ran off. Sasuke resumed walking until he made it to the door and turned to look at me.

I ran towards him as I felt Naruto and Hinata watching us from their seats. "See you at home Naruto!" I said as I left with Sasuke.

"Well, looks like it's just you and me Hinata.."

_**Sasuke PoV**_

"Do you think it'll work Sasuke kun?" I shrugged lightly as we stopped at the old bridge we would usually meet at when we were in our genin days. I leaned my back against the rail and propped my elbows onto it as Sakura leaned on it as well but facing the river under it as she let out a heart filled sigh.

"Things have changed since then.." she said as she stared out into the horizon. "Hn." I stood beside her and watched the sun set, granting the sky an orange and pink glow.

"Remember how Kakashi sensei would always be late?…and then he'd come up with some lame excuse?.." I saw her smile faintly as she brought up old memories I had thought long gone.

"I remember once..Naruto and I had met up here to train after I had passed the chunin exams.." I turned my gaze to her fully and watched as she looked down smiling.

"When I got here..he was holding this huge white bear. It was a present he had gotten me to congratulate me on passing the exam along with a bracelet..It had cost him everything he had in his froggy wallet…" she giggled softly as she fiddled with a silver bracelet on her wrist I hadn't noted there before.

"..I felt bad but he didn't let me pay him back. Nor did he ever regret it.." I looked down at the still river under the bridge as I tried to imagine that day.

"And one time..Naruto and I had played matchmaker here.." I fixed my gaze onto her as she fidgeted with the small bracelet between her fingers.

"Naruto had encouraged Shikamaru to "man up" and finally tell Ino how he felt about her while I reassured her that he did feel something towards her.." I gave her a questioning glance as I noticed the sky begin to darken into a navy blue. "So they're.."

"Mhmm.." she nodded as she smiled sweetly at me. "They're engaged now but Shikamaru is usually away on missions and Ino sometimes works at the hospital or she's on missions so we don't get to see them around much." she said as she turned and looked up to where the sun had been moments ago.

I gazed up at the dwindling stars that began to appear one by one, slowly illuminating the dark infinite sky. "I missed out on a lot didn't I." I turned my gaze to look at the pastel haired kunoichi__ who was looking at me with an almost invisible trace of sympathy.

"Everything changed drastically while I was gone." Sakura shook her head as she looked down at the bridge below us. "Things always change Sasuke, but when we're not around to see them grow and develop..the changes seem drastic."

I grunted softly as she stood up straight and walked a few steps ahead of me. "We should go home and pack Sasuke kun.." I nodded shortly as I caught up and walked silently beside her.

She was right actually, things always changed if you like it or not, and when you're not around they seem so drastic and unbelievable. Everything around me had changed the village, the hogake, the people..everything. They all changed and they did it for the better.

All the changes had surprised me to say the least when I had come back ten months ago, but something that really caught me off guard the most was her. I cast her a sideways glance as we passed by the hospital.

She had trained under the godaime and many said that she had surpassed her in both strength and beauty as a result she got many fan boys. She had gone up the ranks in a flash and had even become anbu in my absence, but she had demoted herself back to joinin along with Naruto and Neji.

When I returned I was expecting her to burst to tears, hug me, tell me how uch she missed me but none of that happened. In fact, she had been me nurse at the time. She welcomed me with a smile and usually just went on with her job without speaking much to me.

Yeah, she hadn't dropped the '-kun' suffix but she didn't have the fan girl thing in her anymore and that relieved me to a point. She would keep her distance when I got out and speak occasionally but she had matured in more than one way.

I guess you could say she grew up or something like that… Her attitude and behavior had changed along with her body. She had gained curves in the right places and you could tell her body was well toned, with more muscle now due to her training I suppose.

Though a lot of her changed she still had those same viridian eyes that had that joyful glow when were in our genin days, but her hair.. I glanced at her cotton candy locks as we continued to walk in silence.

She had kept it short from that day in the chunin exams..I looked at the ground in front of me as an image of when I awoke in the first stage of the curse mark and saw her bruised up with short, choppy hair come into my mind.

I had been so angry when I saw her, I lost all control over my actions and went on a rampage and took on the three sound ninja she had been facing earlier on her own.

I scoffed softly as I noticed we walked past the bench I had left her on four years ago. I was angry every time I thought that something would happen to her or Naruto, so why did I leave?

They had meant to most to me for a long time and I always helped and protected them and worked together, yet I left them, fought against them, and almost killed them more than once.

I had left them to gain power the only way I thought I could, but when I return, they've excelled, grown stronger and all made it to much higher ranks than I thought they could… and in the end-

"We're home!" I awoke from my daze as I noticed we had made it to Sakura's house and she closed the door silently as I stood still in the middle of the living room.

"I guess he's not home yet.." she whispered aloud as she removed her shoes and sighed quietly. "What do you want me to make for you Sasuke, you must be hungry since we didn't get to eat anything.." I shook my head as closed the fridge and nodded.

"Well then, I'm just gonna go to sleep..goodnight Sasuke kun." she said as she began to walk up the flight of stairs "Sakura.." she turned around and gazed at me curiously from the middle of the stairs.

"Nani?.." she asked innocently as her emerald eyes locked with mine. "I..sleep well Sakura.." she smiled softly as she closed her eyes and whispered, "Hai.. You too Sasuke kun.." I felt the corners of my lip turn up slightly as I watched her go up the stairs.

_**--xoxo--**_

_**-xoxo-**_

_**--xoxo--**_

"Alright Kyden, are you ready?"

"_You bet Miyazaki chan, just let me know.." _Sakura turned to Neji as she gave him an inquisitive stare. They young Hyuuga nodded as he deactivated his byuakugan.

"Alright, we're clear on this end."

"_Yeah! We're going in!" _Sakura closed her eyes as she made a series of hand signs and her blossom appeared. I narrowed my eyes slightly as I awaited for her signal. The wind blew silently with an occasional soft whisper, making the leaves ruffle with the ones beside it.

The sky was crystal clear except one cloud roaming in the empty peaceful space. I watched her finish her hands signs and adjust her gloves slightly then I heard a soft, almost invisible word that we had been waiting so eagerly for.

"Iku."

We separated in different directions, searching every room, every box, every corner. Moving about stealthily, looking for something, _anything _that could aid us in our mission. _Nothing_.

"There's nothing here Kyden." I heard Sakura say as we joined together in the kitchen. We all exited the abandoned base without a sound, Neji searched around with his byakuan.

"Alright, it's safe Seiji." informed the Hyuuga prodigy as he deactivated his byakugan.****I turned to the empty base and set it on fire making sure to leave nothing of it behind.

"Nice job Seiji, Kyden how are things on your end?" questioned Sakura into her microphone.

"_Akito and I got rid of the base just now. There's nothing there so we're gonna set up camp now." _replied Naruto as he sighed quietly in the mic.

"Alright, we're out." replied Sakura as she pulled the speaker off.

_**--xoxo--**_

_**-xoxo-**_

_**--xoxo--**_

I finished lighting the fire so I sat down beside Sakura as she pulled off her mask sighing silently. "Good work today Seiji." she whispered as I pulled the mask off.

_**Flashback**_

"_I'm glad you could all make it here, this mission is of utmost importance, due it somewhat involves the Uchiha massacre." She paused for a moment as she directed a gaze my way and I gave her a short nod. _

"_You six are to scout surrounding countries for Akatsuki hideouts, after you have made sure nobody's there, __**if **__nobody's there, you are to enter and search it for anything that could become an asset to konoha. Afterwards, you are to destroy each and every base you come across." _

"_Excuse me Lady Hokage, what if encounter enemy shinobi." questioned Neji in a respectful manner. _

"_If you are to come across an enemy ninja, get rid of them by any means necessary. We don't want anyone to know of this mission, so we can't afford any mistakes." she explained as she peered at us over her desk. _

"_This mission is an S rank mission and the time period is from one week to two months. If in that time period you are unable to complete the mission, I will send word for you to return to Konoha immediately." _

_She motioned at the two scrolls sitting at the edge of the desk. Sakura nodded as she stepped forward and took hold of them. _

"_There's one more thing.." said the hokage before dismissing us._

"_The mission is risky but also extremely helpful to the village hidden in the leaves, and that is why during this mission you will be undercover." _

"_As what Lady Hokage?" asked Hinata speaking up for the first time since the meeting had begun. _

"_You will be taking two different garments to help you out on your mission. One will be Yukata and Kimonos to help you all investigate the whereabouts of the Akatsuki hideouts and the other are anbu uniforms due it's too risky for anybody to recognize you." We all gave her questioning glances as to why we would need the yukata and kimonos. _

" _Sakura, Neji, Naruto you already have your uniforms though you do not use them, I have already sent genin to deliver all of your garments along with everyone's uniforms." Hinata nodded as she waited for the hokage to finish._

"_The yukata and kimonos are for you to use them as a disguise as a family and a wealthy couple." I froze instantly and I felt Sakura tense beside me, along with Neji and Kiba narrowing their eyes slightly. _

"_W..what do you mean Lady Hokage?.." asked Hinata, her face flushed lightly and Tsunade cleared her throat as she rose to her feet._

"_There will be two squads of three for this mission. Sakura, you are captain of squad one along with Sasuke and Neji. Naruto, you're captain of squad two along with Kiba and Hinata." she said as she picked up a sheet of paper and began to read out loud._

"_Kiba, for this mission you'll be known as Akito Kindaichi, Naruto as Kyden Morikuzu and Hinata, you'll be Ayame Miyuki, soon to become Ayame Morikuzu." Naruto's eyes widened as I saw Hinata flush a deep red._

"_But grandma Tsunade! That means that for this mission Hinata will be my fiancée?" asked Naruto with a nervous undertone to his words, I smirked softly. _

"_Yes Naruto that's exactly what it means. Kiba, you will be Hinata's cousin for this mission, understood?" All three of them nodded and I saw Naruto and Hinata exchange glances with small smiles playing on their lips. I rose a brow and stored this picture in the back of my head._

"_Alright then Neji, you will be known as Sosuke Hoshimaru, Sasuke as Seiji Hatsuharu and Sakura as Miyazaki Hatsuharu." I grit narrowed me eyes as I saw Sakura's fists tighten but now it was Naruto who I saw smirking._

"_Neji you are the councilor from the village that Sasuke and Sakura are lords from." Neji gave a respectful nod as Kiba smirked beside him._

"_Dismissed."_

_**End Flashback**_

I put the mask I held in my hands on the floor and watched as Neji finished putting up the tent. I heard a ruffle of paper and looked beside me to se Sakura reading over the scroll. I saw as a small frown took over her features when she reached the end of the page.

"Miyazaki, is something the matter?" asked Neji as he approached us and saw her frown. She held out the scroll as she sighed and Neji took it gently from her hands and began to read aloud.

_As you may have already figured out by now there are only two tents per group. The reason for this is to ensure that the "couples" spend more time together to get their roles to seem more convincing._

_I expect you all to follow these rules and don't let me down for I have trusted you all with this mission._

_Fifth Hokage of Konohagakure, Tsunade_

Neji closed his eyes as he let out a soft sigh. "Which tent would you like to occupy?" I nodded to the tent on the left as Sakura took the scroll back and rolled it up.

"Alright then, Goodnight Miyazaki, Seiji." he said as he left quietly.

I knew from the beginning that she had planned this whole thing out. She had intentionally paired me with Sakura and knew that Neji and I would sleep in the same tent to allow her some privacy.

"Seiji kun?.." I turned to where the kunoichi's voice had come from to see her standing in front of the tent holding the flap open for me to come. I followed her inside and zipped it shut when we had both entered.

I heard a ruffle of clothes and turned to see Sakura pull off her jumpsuit like vest along with her elbow length gloves and long boots, staying in nothing but her skin tight, navy blue -not to mention short- jumpsuit.

I ignored as she combed her hair with her fingers and began to remove the white vest along with my ninja sandals, gloves and shirt that went under the vest, leaving on my navy blue pants.

If it were anyone other than Sakura or I in this situation it could've been awkward, but the emerald eyed girl and I had been living together for almost a month now. It had been a short period of time but we had gotten accustomed to act normal in front of each other, no matter the situation.

I ran a hand through my now longer, ebony locks as I turned around and scoffed lightly with what my eyes came in contact with.

"Is something wrong Sei…oh.." Sakura cut herself off as she turned around and saw only one sleeping bag with two pillows and a small set of sheets folded in the corner of the tent.

"We could make a bed out of some extra clothes that I brought just in case." I shook my head shortly as I moved over to the sleeping supplies.

"That won't be necessary." I said as setup the sleeping bag and laid down. "But Seiji-" I cut her off by simply moving over and giving her a very serious stare and motioning to the space beside me.

She gave me an incredulous look as she glanced to the space beside me and then to my face. "Miyazaki, come to bed." I said after a minute if her staring. She slowly crawled in beside me and laid down.

I draped the sheets over her shoulder and closed my eyes to try to gain some sleep. After a few moments of silence I felt Sakura shiver beside me and I turned my gaze to her.

My eyes met her back for she was facing the other way and I noticed how the sheets were much too small for us to sleep with at least an inch of space between us.

I moved over to my left a little and slipped my arm under her shoulders, pulling her next to me. She opened her eyes and gazed at me in a confused manner. "You're cold Sakura."

"We're not suppose to use our names, you know that." she said as she stared up at me. "Nobody will hear us, now stay still, you're shivering." she gave a soft smile as she tried to move away again.

"I'll get warmer soon Sasuke." I grunted softly at her lame excuse. "The sheets are too small Sakura, you won't get warm." I pulled her closer as she laid her head on my chest and I felt her cold skin against mine.

"Arigato, Sasuke kun.." she whispered after a moment. I opened my eyes and looked down at her on top of me chest.

"Hn." I grunted as I felt a faint smile take over my lips.

**_Wooots!!! Did you enjoy it?? Did you like it?!?!? I tried to make up for my lateness and ended up with the longest chappie yet!! I hopes you alls enjoyed it cuz I know I enjoyed writing it!! If you have any questions or observations let meh know ~//^ and please review!!!_**


End file.
